Matchday 10 - Report
Thanda Royal Zulu FC - Santos FC
DURBAN, November 26 (Absa Premier League) – Thanda Royal Zulu lost for the third time in succession on Wednesday after Graham King’s early goal lifted Santos to a 1-0 win in Hammersdale.
The Amabhubesi, who were beaten by Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates in their two previous outings, dominated for large parts of the game at the Mpumalanga Stadium, but their failure to find the back of the net again proved costly.
In contrast, the visitors looked sharp from the outset with Mogogi Gabonamong putting his 12-yard shot over the bar shortly after the kick-off.
And it was not long before the opening goal arrived – King picking up a pass on the edge of the penalty area from Eleazar Rodgers on the right and unleashing a powerful left-footed shot beyond Aubrey Mathibe in the Thanda goal.
Felix Obada and Musa Nyatama then wastefully shot over from distance, before in-form striker Bernard Parker drew a sprawling stop from Francis Chansa followed by another off-target header from Peter Ndlovu.
Santos had to wait until the 27th minute for their next opening, but Romano Scott only managed to put his strike into the crowd.
Immediately after Isaacs saw his 25-yard free-kick from the left well stopped by the Thanda goalkeeper as David Bright’s team threatened to double their advantage.
But it was the hosts who looked the more likely to score with defender Ahmed Muhammed squandering the next chance on the stroke of half time when he put his six-yard header from a James Madidilani cross to the right of Chansa’s goal.
And they continued were they left off after the restart, with Parker, Nyatama and Obada all firing long-range efforts over the bar.
When they did manage to finally find the target, they found an alert Chansa, who somehow managed to keep out Ndlovu’s header after 70 minutes.
Clement Mazibuko’s free-kick close to end managed to find Parker in the box, but he in turn nodded over as frustration began to get the better of Thanda.
In the end, it was Santos who almost scored a second with King’s shot well hit, but straight at Mathibe, and Jerome Ramathlakwana firing wide as the People’s Team held on for all three points.