Durban — Dumisani Zuma and Ramahlwe Mphahlele both scored as AmaZulu beat Kaizer Chiefs 4-0, handing Amakhosi their second defeat in a row at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Friday evening.
Usuthu climbed to within three points of Chiefs in the league as they made their way up to fifth after starting the day in 12th spot.
Zuma opened the scoring for the hosts as he justified his rare inclusion in the starting lineup with a well-taken header in the 14th minute.
The winger did well to evade his man during a corner and leaped to convert from close range.
Chiefs' top-scorer this season, Caleb Bimenyimana, was handed the opportunity to draw his level from the penalty after Ashley Du Preez had been dragged down in the box.
Early drama in the #DStvPrem 🍿
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 13, 2023
AmaZulu take the lead and then Bimenyimana has his penalty saved by Mothwa ❌ pic.twitter.com/kpX8aK8img
However, he couldn't add to his seven goals as Veli Mothwa guessed the right way and smothered his effort.
Things went from back to worse for Chiefs as another one of their ex-players in Ramahlwe Mphahlele doubled AmaZulu's lead in the 37th minute.
The veteran centre-back capitalised off poor marking and terrible goalkeeping during a corner once more and headed home from just outside the 6-yard box.
Chiefs' defence was at sixes and sevens once throughout the entire first half however it reached new levels when confusion between Dove Edmilson and Itumeleng Khune gifted Usuthu a third just before half-time.
Edmilson tried to play a backpass to his keeper however it didn't have the required weight and new arrival Junior Dion pick-pocketed them and poked home for an unassailable 3-0 lead at the break.
Bonginkosi Ntuli came off the bench to seal a spirited performance by Usuthu as he added a fourth in stoppage time.
Amakhosi head coach Arthur Zwane made four alterations to the side that lost against Sekhukhune in the previous match, handing a first starting appearance for youngster Mduduzi Shabalala.
On the side of Usuthu, experience and guile was the name of the game as coach Romain Folz welcomed back Abubakar Mobara and George Maluleka into the fold.
IOL Sport