By Monwabisi Jimlongo
It’s so far so good for AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy as he has collected four points from a possible six since his appointment as
Usuthu mentor in December.
McCarthy led Usuthu to a 1-1 draw with Bloemfontein Celtic in a DStv Premiership fixture at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Mangaung on Sunday afternoon.
The draw follows after the former Cape Town City coach guided Usuthu to a 3-1 win over Chippa United in his first match in charge in December.
‘‘I think the conditions played a massive part. The heat was unbearable and the grass was long. We couldn’t move the ball the way
we wanted to move it. The structure you can see is there and the team is starting to take shape,’’ McCarthy said after the Celtic match.
‘‘It was an opportunity we are not gonna get often in this league. The first 30-35 minutes we were cruising with obvious goal scoring chances and we should have probably been 3-0 up by the first water break. They
got the goal from a set piece, a free kick. Then they became a defensive team. We stuck to our game plan, we tried to break them down, we were creating all the chances.’’
The former Bafana Bafana striker said that Usuthu’s perseverance paid off when Augustine Mulenga cancelled Mzwanele Mahashe’s goal.
‘‘The boys I have to give them credit. The resilience, the persistence, the way they worked was amazing. We scored a goal after
Mulenga’s individual brilliance,’’ said McCarthy said.
‘‘Two games for me, four points we have picked up, not a bad start. Our focus is now on the midweek game against Kaizer Chiefs. We are gonna try and do the same, chances we create in future we must put them in the back of the net.’’
Usuthu are going to welcome struggling Chiefs at the King’s Park Stadium in Durban on Wednesday (15h00).
