Arthur Zwane: AmaZulu’s late win tactical, not luck

Usuthu secured victory late in their Betway Premiership clash at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, with substitute Thapelo Matlhoko converting from a cross by Riaan Hanamub.

While admitting it was not their most polished display, Zwane maintained his side always had a plan and believed they could take all three points.

"We had to dig deep and you look at how we started the first half obviously they dominated for about 20 to 25 minutes. They put us under pressure. They did not give us time and space on the ball,” Zwane said.

“We had to readjust a little bit dropping Pule instead of staying as a 10 to come and play as a 8. So, that we have numbers, so we changed the pattern. We went to 5-3-2, we started now keeping the ball a little bit longer and towards the end of the first half actually, we started being patient on the ball, controlling the tempo, waiting for the right moment. 

“Then second half we knew that they would come out guns blazing, they would throw in numbers forward so we still needed to operate the pockets but we let ourselves down by losing the ball cheaply in those areas and also poor decision making. 

“As soon as we made changes we looked like we had them and Thapelo gave us what we were looking for in a spearhead when we substituted Thabiso [Kutumela], we went in there with fresh legs."

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Usuthu moved to third on the log table, edging closer to the club’s target of securing a CAF interclub competition slot. 

But Zwane is adamant the job is not done yet. 

"We'll take one game at a time, we are not gonna put ourselves under pressure. Yes, it's good for the team, it's good for these youngsters you know to see how good they are. They are not there by fluke, they've worked very hard,” the coach added.

“Sometimes it wasn't pretty, we tried to combine touches here and there and if it's not working and the field as well makes it easy for you and then you've got to get to that point where you look for that smash and grab and it happened. 

“We're happy that we got maximum points and not that we are here for a point, we are here for maximum points but even a point away from home against a difficult opposition like this was still gonna be okay for us."