Zwane urges improvement despite AmaZulu win

AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane was pleased that his side secured their second win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Marumo Gallants, but he emphasised that there is still plenty of work to be done ahead of their next match.

Usuthu bounced back to winning ways after a 2-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in their previous outing. Having already opened the season positively with a 1-0 win against newcomers Orbit College, the clash against Gallants was always going to be challenging, particularly given the Bloemfontein-based side’s confident start to the campaign.

A first-half added-time goal from Keegan Allan ended Siwelele sa Marumo’s two-match winning streak in a game where the KwaZulu-Natal outfit could have scored more but were hampered by poor decision-making in the final third.

Zwane was pleased with his team’s recovery from their last defeat but expressed concern over missed opportunities, stressing that finishing remains an area in urgent need of improvement.

“We started off brightly, we looked like we could score at any given time,” Zwane said, after the win.

“In the first 20 minutes, we had a couple of chances we could have capitalised on and we did not take them. I am even sweating and getting goosebumps due to the number of chances we missed today.

“It is becoming a worrying factor, because when you’ve got the opposition allowing you to create chances… they came today with their legs open, allowing us to hurt them, and we did not.

“We could have killed the game in the first half. The good thing is that we managed not to concede a goal towards the end, because that is when they usually score, either early in the first half or towards the end of the game. Instead, it was us who got that opportunity from a dead-ball situation.”

Zwane was satisfied with his side’s defensive performance, but as AmaZulu prepare to face high-flyers Sekhukhune United when league action resumes next week, the former Kaizer Chiefs coach hopes the break will give his team time to improve.

With the club offloading many players who formed the core of last season’s squad, Zwane has had to adjust to a team featuring a large proportion of young players.

“At this level, it’s about results, but we cannot fault the youngsters’ efforts.

“The defence deserves credit; they have kept two clean sheets at home. We want to keep it that way. Going away, we want to make sure that we continue where we left off.

“We need to polish and sharpen our finishing upfront, because today a draw could have been worse for us after creating so many chances.

“In the second half, we were tired and we allowed them time and space; it was only one team playing. We were clearing the ball to nowhere, we had them napping in counter-attacks, but we gave away the ball cheaply. I’ll take the points and run, because we wanted to win this game at all costs at home.

“We will build the momentum and confidence from this game in terms of the result, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

Join us over at THE CLUTCH

For the latest breaking sporting news and insights from our veteran sports journalists visit our YouTube channel @theclutchza