AmaZulu breezed into the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup following a 2-0 victory at last year’s finalists Sekhukhune United in their Last 16 clash at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Thursday.
AmaZulu took the lead in somewhat controversial circumstances. A scramble in the Sekhukhune box resulted in a defender hacking the ball clear, but as he did so it struck the outstretched arm of Sede Dion and rebounded into the net. The Ivorian may say it was not intentional and he could not get his arm out the way, but it was in an outstretched position and the deflection led directly to the goal. Dion does love a strike in the Nedbank Cup, that is his fifth in eight appearances (four starts).
The first one may have been unlucky for Sekhukhune, but AmaZulu’s second was an absolute gift from the home side. They were trying to play out from the back but goalkeeper Renaldo Leaner took a heavy touch and that allowed Victor Letsoalo to close him down. The striker stole the ball and was able to break clear, scoring into an empty net with the keeper hanging his head and hoping the ground would open and swallow him up. Letsoalo had gone one day shy of a year without a goal, but now has two in two games after he also netted against SuperSport United in the league at the weekend. Ironically, Letsoalo played all five games for Sekhukhune last season as they reached the final, scoring against Cape Town Spurs in the Last 16.
AmaZulu are into their first Nedbank Cup quarterfinal since 2012, a year in which they reached the semis but lost to SuperSport United. This is just their fourth Nedbank Cup win since then and their biggest since they defeated second-tier United FC 2-0 in the Last 32 in 2014. Usuthu reached the quarters four times in five years between 2008 and 2012 (two semifinals, one final), so it has been a long wait for them.
Sekhukhune had been on a long unbeaten run of eight games (W4 D4) before this one, but never really got out of first gear. They were also unbeaten at home since October (W6 D5), so it was a surprise result in many ways. Maybe especially so as AmaZulu had only won three of their last 27 (D13 L11) away games in all competitions. All the signs were this would be a home win.
AmaZulu have reached six finals of the Nedbank Cup and its predecessors, the last in 2010. But they have lost every one and are yet to lift the trophy. It seems almost cruel to have reached that many deciders and come away with nothing on each occasion. Fourteen years ago they lost 3-0 to BidVest Wits in the final, though the match was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests.
SOURCED FROM THE NEDBANK CUP WEBSITE.
