Supersport return to winning ways with a victory over AmaZulu

When lady luck is not on your side, there is not much you can do and that was the case for Benni McCarthy and his AmaZulu side, who suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.

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While maximum points went to the home side, most of the opportunities fell to Usuthu but they could not convert any of those into goals. It was one of those days where one could tell that even if the match played until midnight, AmaZulu still would not find the back of the net.

Usuthu struck the woodwork twice and squandered numerous opportunities, including a penalty.

Jesse Donn opened the scoring for United in the 33rd minutes after goalkeeper Veli Mothwa could not gather the ball from a corner kick, which he tamely cleared down the alley of Donn, who made no mistake and fired into a relatively empty net.

In the second stanza, Mothwa was again the culprit, this time around he launched the ball from his box, but could not send it up-field as the ball was intercepted. In an attempt to regain possession, Mothwa moved some distance off his line, chasing the stray ball but Iqraam Rayners got to the ball first and curled into an empty net.

Earlier on, the KwaZulu-Natal side were handed a penalty in the 52nd minute. Jammie Webber dragged down Makhehlene Makhaula in the box and referee Abongile Tom had no choice but to point to the spot. Bongi Ntuli took responsibility from 12 yards but Ronwen Williams would not be beaten by Ntuli’s casual attempt. He had a second bite at the cherry when Williams parried but again, the Bafana Bafana shot-stopper was on top of his game as he gathered the ball comfortably.

To make matters worse for Usuthu, defender Thapelo Xoki was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time, much to the annoyance of McCarthy.

The result saw The Spartans return to winning ways after two consecutive defeats to Maritzburg United and Royal AM, and they’ve not crept into the top half of the table as Kaitano Tembo has guided his side to 29 points.