Maritzburg United made it back-to-back wins in the DStv Premiership after beating KZN rivals Royal AM 3-0 at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Sunday evening.
A first-half brace from Amadou Soukouna put Fadlu Davids’ side in the driver’s seat at the break and Friday Samu sealed the victory at the death to take them three points clear of basement club Marumo Gallants in 15th place.
Both teams were looking to build victories last time out, with Maritzburg having beaten Gallants 1-0 in Phokeng, while Thwihli Thwahla took home the local derby spoils following a 2-0 triumph over AmaZulu in Durban.
Royal AM made the better start and created five chances before the quarter-hour mark, although only two of those were on target.
Kabelo Mahlasela failed to keep his long-range shot down on six minutes before Tebogo Potsane drew a save out of Renaldo Leaner with another strike from distance two minutes later.
Philani Cele missed the target from the resulting corner as his shot sailed to the right of the goal and Motebang Sera then tested Leaner from inside the box on 11 minutes after being picked out by Elias Pelembe.
Khetukuthula Ndlovu blazed wide of the near post from a tight angle on 13 minutes after Tebogo Potsane played him in on the left following a swift counter-attack, while the hosts’ first sniff at goal saw Karim Kimvuidi fire narrowly wide of the near post from close range on the right in the 17th minute.
The Team of Choice managed to weather the early storm and took a surprise lead on 34 minutes when Soukouna latched onto a through-ball from Kimvuidi and beat Patrick Nyame from inside the area to register his third goal of the season.
Worse was to follow for the visitors as Soukouna bagged his second of the match on 45 minutes after reacting quickest when Kimvuidi’s initial shot came back off the right post.
Khabo Zondo’s troops almost found an instant response but Leaner pulled off a good save to deny Philani Cele on the stroke of halftime after he had been set up by Sera inside the area.
Maritzburg continued to let the opposition have the majority of the possession in the second half as they were happy to play on the counter.
Kimvuidi had an early sight at goal when he forced Nyame into a save with an effort from inside the box on 48 minutes and Soukouna wasn’t far off from finding the right corner of the net with his 55th-minute free-kick.
Zondo threw on four attacking players around the hour mark in a bid to get back into the contest but the changes didn’t make much impact as the second half progressed, with Menzi Masuku blasting a shot over the crossbar on 76 minutes before Shadrack Kobedi steered his header wide of the left post from close range in the 84th minute.
The Team of Choice wrapped up the win in stoppage time as Samu tucked his shot into the bottom right corner of the net to secure three precious points in their fight for survival.