Amazulu’s Folz out to haunt his former employers

Cape Town – Marumo Gallants will battle it out with AmaZulu FC in a DStv Premiership match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Wednesday (start 7:30pm).

Gallants saw their three-match unbeaten run across all competitions come to an end when they suffered a slender 1-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns away in a league encounter on October 19.

As a result, the Limpopo-based side remains rock bottom (16th spot) on the DStv Premiership standings – three points behind 11th-placed TS Galaxy and a win over Usuthu will see Gallants climb out of the relegation zone.

MATCH-DAY • #DStvPremiership 🏆

🆚 @_Marumogallants
📍 Peter Mokaba Stadium
🕑 19:30
📺 SS PSL (Channel 202)#HebeUsuthu#UsuthuTogether pic.twitter.com/2jrOyxFDEt

— AmaZulu FC (@AmaZuluFootball) October 26, 2022

Dan Malesela, Gallants' head coach, was pleased with his side's second-half performance against Sundowns and he also added that they need to redeem themselves against AmaZulu.

“We always expected it to be tough. We struggled a lot in the first half, maybe because of certain placements and as soon as we changed," Malesela said.

"We brought on some fresh blood and other players. Everything changed and changed for the better. They could have gone somewhere else, or they could’ve favoured us, but you cannot control certain situations.

“I am not going to complain about certain other things. I leave them to God. We must redeem ourselves against the next opponent. We really need the points. We need the points seriously."

Meanwhile, AmaZulu stretched their winless run to eight matches across all competitions when they drew 0-0 with Kaizer Chiefs at home on Sunday, but Usuthu progressed to the MTN8 final on the away goals rule.

The KwaZulu-Natal giants are currently placed ninth on the DStv Premiership standings and a point behind seventh-placed Stellenbosch FC. A win over Gallants will elevate Usuthu into the top eight.

AmaZulu head coach, Romain Folz, who will be facing his former club, Gallants for the first time, insisted that he is not worried by his current side's struggles in front of goal, and he also believes Usuthu will soon be scoring goals again.

“I’m not worried, I know it’s going to come. To be honest, I prefer to win a solid 2-0 than a 6-4 for example," Folz said.

"As much as I want us to score, and I know we will. My priority is to get the team balanced, for every team coming to play us or us going to play them.

"For everyone to find a different task playing against us. It was the case against Chiefs. They have a very good team. For us to deny them creating chances against us, I think it is a big accomplishment."