DURBAN – AmaZulu added to Bidvest Wits’ early season woes as they outplayed the league champions 3-0 in an Absa Premiership match at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday night.
The result has left Wits without a win in their last seven matches, with the main problem being on the defensive side, where they have now conceded a massive 10 goals in five league games this season.
Against the run of play, AmaZulu opened the scoring when Wits lost the ball near the halfway line and the hosts attacked down the left flank.
The visitors struggled to clear the ball out of their penalty area effectively, with midfielder Michael Morton powering the ball home, wide of Wits goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs in the 11th minute.
AmaZulu doubled their lead on the hour mark when Wits midfielder Vincent Pule attempted to stop the run towards goal by Siduduzo Dlamini, who played the ball forward, with the end result seeing it striking the hand of the visiting player and a penalty kick awarded.
Rhulani Manzini, who joined AmaZulu from Chippa United, beat Josephs with the spot-kick to double the lead.
AmaZulu went 3-0 up against the Clever Boys when they launched a counter-attack from their goal area as they attacked the left flank.
The cross allowed Manzini to choose the perfect angle to beat Josephs for the second time in as many minutes.
The home side were reduced to 10 men for the final 18 minutes when Morton lost his cool, and pushed substitute Gabadinho Mhango to the ground after the Wits man had seemingly spat at him in an off-the-ball incident after the whistle had blown.
AmaZulu seemed much more solid defensively, compared to last Friday’s outing which saw them thrashed 4-1 by Golden Arrows, with goalkeeper Siyabonga Mbatha handling anything that Wits tested him with.
The Usuthu rearguard did well to keep Wits dangerman Amr Gamal quiet after the Egyptian striker had found the back of the net in each of the past two league games for the Johannesburg side.
AmaZulu, now on seven points from five games, will continue their league campaign when they host struggling Platinum Stars on Saturday, while on the same day, Wits, with just two points from five league outings, will host top-of-the-log Orlando Pirates.