Amakhosi sink Usuthu in Durban
The “new and improved” Kaizer Chiefs picked up another win in the Betway Premiership as they dispatched AmaZulu 3-1 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday evening.
From kick-off, Chiefs were hungry to score and the Soweto team was rewarded for how well they started the match. Five minutes in, Amakhosi were stringing up clean passes and seemingly already had a grip of the fixture.
Ranga Chivaviro opened the scoring in the 12th minute of play, with his first strike saved by Olwethu Mzimela, but he made sure to get the ball into the back of the net with the rebound.
Just two minutes later, Gaston Sirino netted a blockbuster from range, doubling the lead for the visitors. It was seemingly one way traffic as in the 23rd minute Inacio Miguel headed the ball in from a set piece.
With less than 30 minutes gone and already three goals behind, AmaZulu looked deflated but held on to prevent conceding another goal and went into the halftime break with plenty of work to do.
As the second stanza went underway, Usuthu were rejuvenated and finally gave their reply in the 47th minute through Etiosa Ighodaro. The KZN outfit continued to push for another goal shortly after and Tshepang Moremi’s effort hit the post.
Ighodaro came close to getting the ball into the back of the net once again but was stopped by a challenge from Rushwin Dortley, who bravely defended in the penalty area.
As the dust settled, Chiefs regained their confidence and tried to restore their three goal lead. But Usuthu did not give up on trying to get back into the game.
The last 10 minutes of play were evenly balanced, however, Amakhosi held on to their lead, with AmaZulu missing their chances and the visitors ultimately walked away with all three points in Durban.
AmaZulu: (0) 1 (Ighodaro 47’)
Kaizer Chiefs: (3) 0 (Chivaviro 12’, Sirino 14’, Miguel 23’)
AmaZulu: O. Mzimela, A. Mobara (A. Sithole 88’), M. Gumede, T. Fielies, R. Hanamub, E. Brooks (R. Human 72’), B. Motshwari (T. Sikhakhane 88’), M. Mbanjwa (B. Haba 88’), C. Ngema, T. Moremi (J. Dion 66’), E. Ighodaro
Kaizer Chiefs: F. Ntwari, B. Cross, R. Dortley, I. Miguel, R. Frosler, Y. Maart, N. Blom (E. Castillo 53’), G. Sirino (G. Msimango 78’), M. Shabalala (A. du Preez 70’), W. Duba (M. Vilakazi 53’), R. Chivaviro (C. Saile 70’)