AmaZulu FC edged out Tornado FC 3-2 in the Nedbank Cup Last 32 match at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The win saw Usuthu progress to the Last 16 of the South African FA Cup and they are now set to take on TS Galaxy at home in a DStv Premiership match on February 18.
While Tornado’s dream run in the tournament came to an end and they will now look to win the ABC Motsepe League (Northern Cape) title and qualify for the national promotional play-offs.
Usuthu exerted pressure on the visitors from the first whistle and they managed to break the deadlock just eight minutes into the game when Mbongeni Gumede netted with a header at the back post.
The goal rattled the Tornado defence and Frank Mhango made it 2-0 five minutes before the half-hour mark when he fired home Guily Manziba’s top-notch cross from the right.
The visitors had a few chances towards the halftime break, but they couldn’t beat Jody February in the hosts’ goal-posts and AmaZulu were deservedly leading 2-0 during the halftime break.
Coach Romain Folz introduced Mxolisi Kunene prior to the start of the second-half and the diminutive left-sided player became a constant threat to the away side.
Kunene grabbed an assist when he set-up Bonginkosi Ntuli who scored to extend AmaZulu’s lead to 3-0 three minutes after the hour-mark with the Tornado defence exposed.
Tornado finished the game strongly and they grabbed two quick goals as Mario Katz netted in the 78th minute and Kenneth Dupane put his name on the score sheet two minutes later to make it 3-2.
However, AmaZulu were then able to contain the Northern Cape side in the dying minutes of the game and ultimately, they emerged as 3-2 winners on the day.