DURBAN – Tapelo Nyongo scored a stunning free kick as AmaZulu defeated Cape Town City 1-0 at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Saturday night.
The defeat meant the Citizens missed out on an opportunity to go into third place on the Premier Soccer League table and close the gap between themselves and the other teams vying for the title.
City could have taken the lead in the fifth minute of the encounter, but striker Kermit Erasmus saw his spot-kick saved by eventual man-of-the-match Siyabonga Mbatha.
Mbatha proved to be a thorn in Cape Town City’s side as he pulled off a string of saves in the first half.
Having been played through by Erasmus, Gift Links found himself with an opportunity to open the scoring in the 16th minute for the visitors, but was thwarted by Mbatha.
City were the better team for much of the earlier exchanges, with Teko Modise pulling the strings in the middle of the park. City, however, could not turn their dominance into goals.
The former Sundowns man hit the crossbar from a free kick in the second half as City continued to dominate. But it was Nyongo who finally made the breakthrough with a stunning free-kick of his own to beat Peter Leeuwenburg in the City goal in the 64th minute.
The men from Umlazi were able to hold on for their eighth win of the PSL season. AmaZulu are now 11th on the league table having picked up 23 points from their 20 games, while City remain fourth, seven points behind league leaders Bidvest Wits.
💬 Coach Cavin Johnson
“We stole the game. We have to be honest sometimes. They missed the penalty and we get a little bit of luck but we grinded out the result in the end.” #Usuthu_Unite pic.twitter.com/JlugFJt3w5
— AmaZulu FC (@AmaZuluFootball) February 9, 2019
IOL Sport