Amazulu Come Back With Hard-fought Win

Smiso Msomi

AmaZulu head coach Pablo Franco Martin has praised his sides unrelenting spirit following their dramatic win over Chippa United.

Usuthu boosted their Top 8 ambitions with a hard-fought win over high flyers Chilli Boys on Saturday, reinstalling belief in a positive end to coach Martins debut season in South Africa. After going a goal down inside eight minutes, AmaZulu showed resolve in the second half to equalise, before Hendrick Ekstein scored a penalty in the 95th minute to secure all three points.

The KwaZulu-Natal-based outfit has been on the wrong end of what they felt was poor officiating in recent weeks, which led to their elimination from the Nedbank Cup as well as their top eight hopes taking a blow.

AmaZulus 2023/24 campaign seemed to be going off the rails as they suffered back-to-back defeats to Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup and in league competition.

Martin and his men displayed signs of slight relief in their body language as they climbed up to ninth on the DStv Premiership standings. The Spanish-born mentor could not hold back his immense pride and respect for his camp for displaying strong mental character after a difficult week.

It has to be congratulations to everyone, to the player, the technical staff for the great job we are doing and the way that weve stood up to come back from the situations of the last two games, he said

He further added: It was a really tough (period) and I think we played really well, but coming up with our hands empty I think was tough and that was part of the reason we played until the end and we won that penalty today. So, (Saturday) we deserve the three points and the position were in as well.

AmaZulu did not make the best of starts into the game as a shift in their usual 3-5-2 formation to a 4-3-3 saw Chippa dominate them in the first 45 minutes.

Martins tweak was largely influenced by the unavailability of central defender Abbubaker Mobara through suspension.

FULL-TIME ? | #DStvPremiership ?? Victory at Moses Mabhida Stadium. #AmaZuluFC 2? ? 1? Chippa #Indlulamithi #HebeUsuthu #UsuthuTogether pic.twitter.com/ytk7LZX2qE

Tshepang Moremi netted his first goal of the season. He is the #DStvPrem Man of the Match ?? #Indlulamithi #HebeUsuthu #UsuthuTogether pic.twitter.com/zy2U42UIC0

The Spaniard lamented his forced exclusion from his team and revealed that the club were still awaiting a response from the Premier Soccer League regarding a possible alteration to his suspension considering the nature of his dismissal against Pirates.

Mobara is one of our best players if not the best one in terms of decision making and capacity on the ball and now he's not here because of a foul he didnt commit last week, he said.

He further added: We applied asking for a different suspension because he has been suspended for three games for something he didnt do, and after one week, we dont have an answer from the PSL or Safa, which is the most frustrating thing. We understand that referees make mistakes, but the one that didnt make the mistake is suffering now.