AmaZulu failed to break their long-standing winless streak against Orlando Pirates on Wednesday, but coach Arthur Zwane felt they could have done better than the 1-1 draw in their Betway Premiership meeting at King’s Park in Durban.
Pirates stretched their unbeaten run against AmaZulu to 26 matches with the draw. It is an extraordinary 13 years now since Usuthu last won against the Buccaneers, not since the former Pirates striker Bongani Ndlula scored against them for the only goal of the game when AmaZulu won 1-0 in August 2013 in a match played at Soccer City.
AmaZulu have not defeated Pirates at home since October 2009 – almost 17 years ago – when Ayanda Dlamini scored the winning goal at Chatsworth Stadium to secure a 2–1 victory for Neil Tovey’s side.
“I must say, I'll take a point, but I think this is one game as well, especially the first half, where we could have done better to take maximum points,” Zwane said.
“We obviously anticipated a tough game against the top team in the country. And we knew that we were going to have a very long evening.
“We had to be disciplined, in terms of the structure, in the first half, where we were solid apart from how we conceded the goal, against the run of play, a lapse of concentration at the back.”
Former AmaZulu winger Tshepang Moremi put Pirates into a seventh-minute lead.
“We know we could have done better. Firstly, we did not stop the ball carrier wanting to play the ball into the space, which is one of their strengths. They know how to use the runners and create opportunities.
“So, we did not stop the first ball, the second ball and the third ball and, unfortunately, the keeper, as well, parried the ball back into play. So, we got punished,” the coach said
AmaZulu then had what looked like a legitimate finish chalked off erroneously for offside but levelled on the stroke of halftime after winning a penalty which Thando Ngwenya converted.
“We got a penalty because of the pressure that we were applying at that moment. And I think we had a lot of entries on their left side, but our decision-making had to be better. If it were, I think we could have gotten something, but unfortunately, we know again, the connection inside the box was not the best.
“But I must commend the players; they fought very well, and in the second half, obviously when you're playing against the quality side like Pirates, you've got to be smart.
“You can't just open up; we've got to remain compact, be technically disciplined, and also wait for those moments. Then when the game opens up, then you put them under pressure.
“I think, in the second half, we had quite a few moments, but we were not very good in terms of connecting,” Zwane added.