A poor performance from Black Leopards in the second half  saw them concede three goals as Lidoda Duvha went down 4-1 to AmaZulu in an Absa Premiership match at the Giyani Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The result means Leopards are now only one point above Santos, in 14th place, following the Cape side’s win over Kaizer Chiefs at the same time. AmaZulu moved up to seventh on the log with the win, jumping above Ajax Cape Town.

Neither side was overly impressive in the opening 45 minutes and some sloppy defending by Leopards saw them concede a free kick 20 yards from goal in the 16th minute. Cue Marc van Heerden, who stepped up and duly punished the home side with a superb free kick that found the top corner of the net to give Usuthu the lead, 1-0. The goal seemed to awaken the Leopards team and they quickly hit back in the 28th minute, with Luyolo Mapolisa scoring from 18 yards out with a well-placed shot to level matters.

The second half saw Leopards playing the better football, but they continued to waste opportunity after opportunity in the final third of the field. That was not the case for the visitors, who took their first chance of the second 45 when Siyabonga Thwala scored AmaZulu’s second goal of the afternoon in the 63rd minute. The goal was a bit fortuitous as Thwala saw his mistimed shot deceive the keeper and find the back of the net to make the score 2-1.

Ayanda Dlamini virtually guaranteed AmaZulu the points in the 74th minute when he scored the game’s fourth goal before Goodman Dlamini put the result beyond doubt with Usuthu’s fourth goal in the 91st minute, making the final score 4-1.

Black Leopards fought back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw away with Free State Stars in an Absa Premiership match at the Charles Mopedi Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. Lidoda Duvha looked destined to suffer a defeat when Ea Lla Koto were two goals up, thanks to Kennedy Mweene and Zakari Morou. Late strikes from Mongezi Bobe and Itumeleng Duiker saw them claim a valuable point in their quest to avoid relegation from the PSL. - Backpagemedia