AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy felt his side didn't deserve to beat Orlando Pirates on Thursday as they succumbed to a 2-1 DStv Premiership defeat.
Luvuyo Memela had put Usuthu ahead after just four minutes at the Orlando Stadium, but a second brace in two games for Kwame Peprah (37′, 48′) ensured a comeback win for Bucs.
McCarthy’s side could have ended the year in second place on the standings with a victory, but they had to settle for fifth spot, behind runaway league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns (44), Pirates (30), Stellenbosch (29) and Kaizer Chiefs (28).
Luvuyo Memela opens the scoring for AmaZulu with only 4️⃣ minutes on the clock ⏱
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Speaking after the match, McCarthy told SuperSport: “Ja not the happiest return but it’s football, I think first-half started off like a house on fire, so you think ‘ok good start’, there’s energy, so the fatigue and lethargicness didn’t kick in.
“But I think the moment Pirates started to string passes together and you know a lot of movement, kind of tired our players a little bit and you could see we backed off.
“When you allow teams like these and you’re backing off, you don’t put pressure in key parts of the game, of course they gonna start finding gaps in between the lines and creating opportunities becomes evident.”
McCarthy added: “It looked like at times we were complacent and I warned everyone: ‘Just because you beat Sundowns doesn’t mean Pirates is any different, they’re dangerous, they’re a big team’ and ja they showed us today.
“But again you’ve seen the chances we created, it looked like clear-cut chances but that [lack of ] sharpness in front of goal has been the story of our season, up until now. We got what deserved I would say.”
