Leopards hope for more cup reprieve

Black Leopards will hope for more reprieve in the Nedbank Cup when they host AmaZulu for a last 16 clash at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday. Kick-off is at 3pm CAT (SA, GMT+2) Catch the action live on SS PSL with live streaming through DStv and Showmax.

Leopards earned their place in this round with a 2-1 away win over second-tier Jomo Cosmos on 7 February, with Zimbabwean attacker Ovidy Karuru scoring a brace of goals inside the final eight minutes of regulation time.

And Lidoda Duvha come into the match fresh from a much-needed DStv Premiership win, defeating Golden Arrows 2-1 away from home on 23 February – thanks to a brace from Mohammed Anas – to break a five-match losing streak in the league and move off the foot of the table.

“You could see the energy and the fight [in the team] with the changes that we made,” said Leopards coach Lehlohonolo Seema.

“We still need to work hard on aspects of our game, such as the goal we conceded against Arrows even though we had numbers in defence. But it was still a big result, the guys needed this break [in luck]. There’s a lot of work to do and the guys need to soldier on and prepare for this weekend [Nedbank Cup] because it’s another tough one.”

AmaZulu, meanwhile, claimed a penalty shootout win over derby rivals Golden Arrows in the previous round of the Nedbank Cup.

Their match finished 1-1 – thanks to Lehlohonolo Majoro scoring a late equaliser to send the contest to extra time, with Arrows having led for most of the game through Michael Gumede – before Usuthu trumped their neighbours 5-4 on spot kicks.

Benni McCarthy’s team come into this last-16 game in outstanding form: they are unbeaten in their last eight outings across all competitions and firmly established themselves in the top half of the DStv Premiership log with a 2-1 win at Kaizer Chiefs on 17 February , where Majoro again scored a key late goal.

AmaZulu’s turnaround under McCarthy has been highly impressive, but the former Bafana Bafana star insists that the players should take the credit as they head into this clash with Leopards.

“What we [McCarthy and his technical team] do is just give our players confidence, the belief in themselves, the belief that they are fantastic individuals but as a collective they are unbelievable and they got used to that," the coach explained.

He added, “The players have to take all the credit for the turnaround that has been happening in the team. Because they go on the pitch week in and week out, we give them guidelines to be technical, but they still have to go there and execute the plan, so they must take all the credit for the turnaround of the club. It is a combination of a good technical team and players, and we have a never-say-die attitude."

In head-to-head terms, this will be the first knockout meeting of Leopards and AmaZulu since a 1-0 win for Lidoda Duvha in the last 32 round of the 2009 edition of the Nedbank Cup.

The teams last clashed in the DStv Premiership in November 2020, with Usuthu winning 2-0 at Kings Park Stadium in Durban thanks to a brace from Luvoyo Memela.

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLACK LEOPARDS

Ovidy Karuru – The Zimbabwean attacker was the driving force behind Leopards’ last 32 win over Jomo Cosmos, and he will be hungry to push his side deeper into the cup competition – especially at the expense of a former team such as AmaZulu.

Mohammed Anas – The experienced Ghanaian striker came good for Leopards in midweek, netting two goals (including an injury-time winner) to see them pick up a first away win. He will hope to carry that form into this cup clash.

AMAZULU

Luvoyo Memela – Not only did the former Orlando Pirates attacker score both goals when AmaZulu and Leopards last met, he also netted the decisive penalty kick against Arrows in the previous round of the Nedbank Cup, underlining his status as a ‘clutch’ player.

Lehlohonolo Majoro – The veteran striker has scored key late goals in two of AmaZulu’s last three games and could be a major force in this cup clash – even if it is only as a substitute. ‘Major’ will be hungry to send Usuthu into the quarterfinals.