Nelspruit – Mpumalanga Black Aces showed no mercy when they demolished the struggling Maritzburg United 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at Kanyamazane Stadium to move to second spot on the Absa Premiership log standings.
A brace by Collins Mbesuma and two goals by Bhongolethu Jayiya and Dennis Masina made life difficult for the visitors who came into the match with a new coach in Clive Barker who was formerly with AmaZayoni.
Coach Muhsin Ertugral’s men were motivated by their 2-1 victory over Lamontville Golden Arrows and their confidence was high as they took the match to their visitors, but couldn’t create chances to trouble the Namibian goalkeeper, Virgil Vries.
However, in the 29th minute Jayiya broke the deadlock and handed the hosts the lead when he received a pass from Tshidiso Tukane finishing with his right foot.
A few minutes later, Ashley Hartog cancelled out Jayiya’s strike when he equalised in the 31st minute following a supply by Deolin Mekoa. But their celebration was short-lived as the in-form Mbesuma took matters to his hands and bagged the second goal for the Witbank-based side in the 34th minute, through a header and once again he was assisted by Tukane.
At half-time, Aces were up 2-1 and the return from the tunnel meant the hosts had to continue with their target of collecting the full three points.
AmaZayoni were awarded a penalty in the 59th minute when Thamsanqa Mkhize unfairly challenged Tukane ,and the Zambian-born forward stepped up to convert from the spot making it 3-1.
In the dying minutes of the encounter, Dennis Masina made it four for the hosts after an assist from the captain Zamuxolo Ngalo to seal their second consecutive league victory.
The loss means Barker’s men will have to go back to the drawing board and they remain placed at position 16 on the log with one point next to their name from six league matches. – Africa News Agency (ANA).