Benni blasts officiating in AmaZulu's draw
DURBAN – AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy blasted the officiating in his side’s 0-0 stalemate with SuperSport United at the Jonsson Kings Park Stadium on Tuesday night.
The physical encounter ended in frustration for both teams as both made a hash of the chances they had and ended the game with 10 players apiece.
“The referee (Thando Ndzandzeka) could not really control the game and he did not have it under control. It was one-way traffic with everything going in favour of one team. Our frustrations grew and tackles came flying in,” said McCarthy.
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AmaZulu’s Tercious Malepe was given his marching orders in the 73rd minute following a challenge on Jamie Webber, but McCarthy believes the decision to send off his player was wrong while also blasting the behaviour of opposition player Webber whom he feels overreacted to the situation.
“I thought it was a clean challenge from Tercious (Malepe) as he won possession without touching the player (Webber). If that’s what the mentality of our players these days is, it makes them mediocre and average. He (Webber) rolled over like his leg was broken when he was not touched.
“The referee fell for it. The fourth official saw it and was telling the referee which way to go when we committed a foul,” said McCarthy.
Despite his side now winless from five games in all competitions, McCarthy believes that his men did show ‘grit’ when they were reduced to 10 men.
“We showed heart and determination with 10 men to stay in the game. We did not let them create one chance to win the game. I think that the fight we showed was superb and we even looked to win the game,” said McCarthy.
AmaZulu have clearly struggled in front of goal without the presence of the injured Augustine Mulenga as they have so far scored just one goal in all competitions so far this season. McCarthy conceded that the lack of efficiency in the final third by his men is a concern.
“Our lack of goalmouth action is a concern. Our players don’t seem to want to score goals. We create chances but are not scoring them. It’s a big problem. My biggest quest was to sign a striker and maybe it caused our current strikers to lose confidence because I said it publicly.
“We need an additional option to give us something different when we go to games. It’s not the best situation but we can’t complain about getting a point from the game,” said McCarthy.