What a great display of entertaining football between the sides at Loftus Versfeld Stadium. The much-anticipated clash between the Brazilians and Usuthu showed why there was a lot of hype going into the game as it delivered a seven-goal thriller.
Masandawana went to this game without Denis Onyango and Sphelele Mkhulise who were part of the team when Mamelodi Sundowns were in action against Cape Town City.
The game started with both sides sizing each other up and no one willing to be on the back foot. AmaZulu needed only fourteen minutes to throw the first punch as Lehlohonolo Majoro pounced on a mistake made by stand-in captain Ricardo Nascimento and went on to chip the ball over Kennedy Mweene for the opener.
Masandawana needed only four minutes to draw one back as Themba Zwane finished off a great pass by Peter Shalulile to make the score one all. “Shikabala” was not finished as three minutes later he was on hand to score his second for the day. In the twenty-ninth minute “Mshishi” completed his hat-trick, which he only needed a total of eleven minutes to accomplish. The score going into half-time was 3-1 to the home side.
Usuthu were quick off the block in the second stanza as they were awarded a penalty after Nascimento was judged to have handled the ball. Luvuyo Memela stepped up to take the spot-kick and saw his initial shot saved by Kennedy Mweene and needed the rebound to score. Peter Shalulile restored the two-goal cushion in the fifty-fifth minute as he headed home a corner by Lyle Lakay.
The intensity of the game was being stretched as both teams were on each other’s backs. The visitors got one back from Khumalo as he headed the ball home after a corner was misjudged by Mweene and reduced the score deficit by one goal. Bafana Ba Style kept pushing and Kermit Erasmus saw his shot saved by Siya Mbatha after some great footwork in the box.
AmaZulu kept pushing for the equaliser that never came and Masandawana walked away with three points and four goals scored.
This article was previously published on sundownsfc.com
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