Usuthu need derby win, not revenge
AMAZULU won’t show any favours to their neighbours, Maritzburg United, when the sides meet in the KwaZulu-Natal derby at Harry Gwala Stadium on Friday at 8pm.
Maritzburg are at the bottom of the table with 14 points after 21 games while Usuthu are 11th with 23 points after an identical number of games. In 2015, Maritzburg relegated AmaZulu on the last day of the league. Usuthu lost 2-1 at the expense of their rivals and were relegated to the National First Division (NFD).
AmaZulu decided to buy a Premier Soccer League (PSL) status two seasons ago. They bought Thanda Royal Zulu to make their PSL return. Usuthu have an opportunity to inflict revenge and add more misery on their neighbours. Manager at AmaZulu, Qedi Dlamini, made it clear that they don’t hold a grudge against their rivals for what happened in 2015 and won’t do them any favours come Friday.
“We are also not completely out of the relegation. In football there are no things such as favours. We don’t have any grudges for Maritzburg for what happened back then. What happened then is now history. It wasn’t their intention to relegate us but they wanted three points. We will go out and play to the best of our ability,” Dlamini said.
Usuthu suffered a heavy defeat against Orlando Pirates this past weekend. They were thumped 4-1 at Orlando Stadium in an Absa Premiership tussle.
Maritzburg also lost 3-2 against Cape Town City this past weekend.
“We want to collect as much points as possible so that we can increase our chances of finishing in the top eight. We don’t have anything against Maritzburg. They are in a bad situation. We know exactly how it is to be in that situation,” he added.
AmaZulu are unbeaten in KZN derby matches this season. They have collected four points out of the possible six in derby matches. They shared the spoils with Maritzburg in a 0-0 stalemate at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi at the start of the season. Usuthu defeated Lamontville Golden Arrows 2-0 in Umlazi in a Durban derby.
“For us this is a normal game. We want to bounce back after losing to Pirates. Maritzburg are always a difficult team to beat at home but we will go out there and fight,” Dlamini stated.
Maritzburg need the points more than Usuthu. They are in disarray and if they are to escape relegation they need to start winning games consistently.