AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane believes his side beat themselves in their dramatic 4-3 extra-time defeat to Sekhukhune United in the MTN8 quarter-final at Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday.
Usuthu took an early lead through Thando Ngwenya and controlled much of the opening stages, but Zwane felt they failed to capitalise on their dominance and allowed Sekhukhune back into the contest.
“I think the first 25 minutes we were in control of the game,” Zwane said. “I think after scoring the goal we took the foot off the pedal when we were supposed to put pressure on them and force them to make mistakes.”
AmaZulu had created further opportunities, but could not extend their advantage before Sekhukhune equalised shortly before half-time through Tshepo Mokoena’s deflected effort.
Zwane admitted he had urged his players to manage the final moments of the first half more effectively.
“Just before half-time I even signalled to the players that there’s only three minutes left, let’s kill the game, let’s slow everything down,” he said.
“Again, we left them with a lot of room to play. They played from outside to inside, we lose the ball, they equalise.”
The AmaZulu coach was even more scathing of his side’s defending after the break, when Sekhukhune scored twice in quick succession to take a 3-1 lead before Usuthu fought back to level.
“Second half, I’ve never seen such horrible defending from my side,” Zwane said.
He was particularly frustrated by the manner in which Ellis Ramala was allowed to run through and score Sekhukhune’s third goal.
“When we had three other defenders on him, I told them he is left-footed, force him to go to his right, don’t allow him to go inside,” Zwane said.
AmaZulu nevertheless showed considerable character to recover from 3-1 down, with Ngwenya scoring his second of the match before Taariq Fillies equalised.
But Zwane felt his team should have gone on to win the game in regulation time.
“After equalising, we should have scored two or three goals,” he said. “Quick goals kill the game.”
Instead, the contest went into extra time, where Katlego Letlapa’s seventh-minute strike finally settled a remarkable seven-goal contest.
For Zwane, the defeat provided a painful reminder that AmaZulu must be more ruthless at both ends of the pitch.
“It’s one of those things,” he said. “You need to learn from these mistakes.”
