Staff Reporter.
Benni McCarthy says Augustine Mulenga’s winner for AmaZulu against Mamelodi Sundowns was a goal Lionel Messi would be proud of as Usuthu ended the 25-game unbeaten run of The Brazilians in Durban on Monday evening.
Mulenga came off the bench to grab the winner on 75 minutes and while McCarthy may be slightly exaggerating in his description of the goal, the timing of the run was good and the finish composed and clinical.
“By the time Mulenga came in, the game was pretty much open because Sundowns were pushing to get that all-important goal. The finish was just unbelievable. I think if Messi or Ronaldo or Neymar finishes that, people talk about it,” McCarthy said.
“Our focus was more just on stopping them from getting through the middle. I think tactically we got it right. We restricted them from playing where they are most dangerous and that’s through the middle.
“And once you do that, you can have opportunities on the counterattack. The breakaway really hurt them. They were kind of worried now with the speed that we had up front. And I think that’s how it really opened for us.”
McCarthy credited the effort his side put into the contest as they moved up to third on the table with a game against second-placed Orlando Pirates to come on Thursday.
“They really came for us, but we remained disciplined. I have to give credit to my defence and I have to give credit to my midfielders, who were giants in the graft and the workload that they produced for the team.”