Durban — New AmaZulu coach Brandon Truter feels that his side are showing improvement.
Usuthu’s 0-0 draw with Sekhukhune United means that the club are now unbeaten in the five games in which Truter has led them since the sacking of Benni McCarthy.
“We played some good football. Our pressing and counter-pressing and structure was good. They could not get out. The only trouble that they gave us was from set-pieces and one or two counter attacks. There has been progress in terms of where we come from with regards to ball retention and structure. There has been huge progress from our last two games until now,” said Truter.
On paper AmaZulu dominated the game. They had 66% ball possession and also had 12 shots whereas Sekhukhune had seven. The best chance of the game for Truter’s side came in the first half as Tapelo Xoki headed towards goal from a corner, forcing a save from Babina Noko goalkeeper Toaster Nsabata. Nsabata pulled off a superb reflex save that will go down as one of the best saves of this season.
Even though Truter has won three out of his five games at the helm of AmaZulu so far, he still thinks that there is plenty of room for improvement.
“Our box entries need to improve. The final ball also needs to be better. The guys were getting the balls into the right areas of the field. We got the balls in and there was a body or two missing in there. We have finishers like Andre De Jongh and Luvuyo Memela. Today we had to use a false nine in the form of Memela and they struggled to contain us,” said Truter.
The result leaves AmaZulu seventh with 40 points after 28 games and their next game will be against Cape Town City before they conclude the season with a Kwa-Zulu Natal derby fixture against Golden Arrows.
AmaZulu have largely had an inconsistent season and failed to build on from their impressive season during the last campaign in which they finished in a record high second position. However, the erratic nature of this season means that two wins from their final games of the season could potentially take them into the top four.
IOL Sport