Arthur Zwane laments poor decision-making as AmaZulu fail to clinch back-to-back PSL wins

AmaZulu and Polokwane City’s 1-1 stalemate could hurt their chances of finishing in the Premiership top eight as neither team managed to close the gap on those ahead.

They also allowed the chasing pack to stay in contention in a tightly contested race following Friday night’s draw at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi.

Only two points now separate the teams following the shared points, with City still holding a game in hand over the KwaZulu-Natal side, who sit in sixth position on the log.

Tebogo Mashigo gave AmaZulu the early lead with an impressive solo effort in the seventh minute, but Rise and Shine equalised through a 56th-minute penalty from Lehogang Nkaki, with both teams failing to take advantage of the chance to move ahead in the top-eight battle.

AmaZulu have found it difficult to maintain consistency this season, and after their derby victory over Golden Arrows (1-0), they once again missed the chance to string together consecutive wins.

Usuthu coach Arthur Zwane criticised his team’s decision-making in crucial phases of the game, particularly after they had taken an early lead.

“We could have done better after scoring the goal,” Zwane said.

“We started out very slow... They imposed themselves for about 15 minutes against the run of play. We managed to get a goal.

“From that moment, we had about six half-chances. We just had poor decision-making in three versus two and two versus one.

“We just gave the ball away, and made them look like they defended well when it was three versus one.”

Zwane and his troops have now collected seven points from a possible 12, and the former Kaizer Chiefs mentor believes that as much as his side could have done much more to stamp their authority on the game, their finishing let them down.

“I am disappointed, but I cannot fault the efforts of the players, but we were playing at home, and we knew what they were going to do,” he said.

“They get the ball into the middle, and once the ball gets to (Manuel) Kambala, they will change the point of attack. If not, they use the other side because they use the wingers.

“That allowed us to exploit the space, but poor decision-making and giving the ball cheaply in the final third entry and rushing actions, as well as instead of being calm, let us down because whenever we gave the ball away in those moments, there was an attack against us.”

Zwane voiced strong criticism of the referee’s early second-half penalty decision, which he felt was unjust, but also took a moment to applaud the efforts of Phuti Mohafe and his team on the night.

“We deserved better, and I can tell you that was not a penalty, but the referees are also human beings, and it’s one of those things,” he said.

“But sometimes they also need to understand that they are costing people jobs as well, because we can’t remain understanding from the beginning of the season until now.

“I will give credit to Polokwane City as well, because they worked very hard and put us under pressure.

“We had to reinforce the midfield as well to make sure they don’t come from the middle, but again, decision-making in the last 10 minutes of the match let us down.”