Chiefs look to expel ghosts of 4-0 drubbing against AmaZulu

As Kaizer Chiefs prepare to play AmaZulu on Sunday in a game they really need to win to strengthen their grip on eighth place in the DStv Premiership, they would do well to completely forget about their last visit to the Moses Mabhida Stadium to take on Usuthu.

On January 13, 2023, Romain Folz’s AmaZulu pummelled Chiefs 4-0 in the DStv Premiership in Durban, embarrassing Arthur Zwane’s Amakhosi with goals from Dumisani Zuma, Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Sede Junior Dion and the late Bongi Ntuli.

“It’s one of my best games,” Folz recently told FarPost, though it didn’t help him too much, as he was redeployed by the club in the following April with the club struggling, and ultimately resigned.

Pablo Franco Martin is the new man in charge at AmaZulu, while Zwane was replaced by Molefi Ntseki ahead of this season, with Ntseki then sacked in October and replaced by Cavin Johnson.

While the coaches of both teams were not there in 2023, there are plenty of players from both teams that will remember what happened.

The likes of Mphahlele and Dion are still at AmaZulu, while Mduduzi Shabalala, Zitha Kwinika, Yusuf Maart and Ashley Du Preez were among those who started the game for Chiefs.

Dove woes

Defender Edmilson Dove also started that match, and his howler, passing a back pass straight to Dion, helped AmaZulu go 3-0 up before the break. The Mozambican defender will not be able to redeem himself on Sunday, however, as he is suspended after getting a red card this week against TS Galaxy.

Chiefs have also lost to AmaZulu this season, going down 1-0 in the last 32 of the Carling Black Label Knockout at FNB Stadium on October 21, a result that was the final straw for Ntseki, who was sacked the following Monday, and replaced by Johnson.

Ironically, Chiefs’ best result under Ntseki also came against AmaZulu, Pule Mmodi scoring twice in 3-0 DStv Premiership home win at the end of August.