AmaZulu coach McCarthy lashes out at ‘shameful’ refereeing after SuperSport United draw

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It was yet another unfruitful outing for Usuthu whose tactician has lashed out at the officiating during their latest match

AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has taken aim at referee Thando Ndzandzeka for some officiating he says “causes your team not to even have a fighting chance” during Tuesday’s 0-0 Premier Soccer League draw against SuperSport United.

The Bafana Bafana legend feels the match official was against them all evening, including showing defender Tercious Malepe a straight red card with 16 minutes to go.

But SuperSport also ended the match a man short following the sending off of Luke Fleurs towards the end of the match.

For the larger part of the match, a frustrated McCarthy was captured live on television remonstrating with the referee or sometimes ranting at the Matsatsantsa bench.

“I have to see the brighter side of it. I think it is a game which we could have easily lost,” McCarthy told SuperSport TV.

“We got a point out of it and I have to commend the players for not losing their minds. You win the ball and the opposition gets a free-kick. It looked like it was a one-sided affair with one team.

“I don’t want to be controversial and our league is precious. We demand teams to step up their game and make this league what it is.

“When I come here, everyone is going to say I should win games. But how can you accept criticism when you have worked during the week and then the officiating causes your team not to even have a fighting chance.

“There was nothing there [for us]. The referee, with all the experience he has in this league, the performance he gave was shameful. But, nevertheless, that was two teams who wanted to win the game, they both went for it.

“I think in terms of clear-cut chances, I don’t see them [SuperSport] where they could have said we should have put that away to win the game easily besides the header from Grobler where Mothwa had to make the save.”

It was Usuthu’s third straight league game without a win after being edged 1-0 by Mamelodi Sundowns in their campaign opener, before being held 0-0 by Swallows at home.

In total, they have gone for five games without tasting victory in all competitions after being knocked out of the MTN8 by Cape Town City, before last Friday’s 1-0 home loss to Nyasa Big Bullets in a Caf Champions League preliminary round, first-leg clash.

Despite the poor run, McCarthy is trying to draw positives from their latest encounter although he has admitted things are not working for them.

“Other than that, it was an even affair so with one point, both teams cannot be too sad about it,” added McCarthy.

“For us it’s another game, no goal. We work on these things everyday but it’s not working, it’s not falling for us.

“We have not lost the game, we had 10 men for the larger part of the game, thanks to the referee. The quality is there, we just need to believe a bit more in ourselves when we go forward just to be able to be more clinical and aggressive.”

Usuthu now prepare to visit Big Bullets for the second leg as they face the possibility of elimination from the Champions League.

2021-09-14 23:00:05

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