City v AmaZulu headlines midweek action

by Graeme Jackson

Tuesday Apr 27, 2021. 09:00

South Africa’s DStv Premiership will continue with a midweek slate of seven matches across Tuesday 27 and Wednesday April, headlined by a potential thriller between Cape Town City and AmaZulu.

Not only will the meeting of the Citizens and Usuthu see coach Benni McCarthy return to face his former club, but the duo are the form teams of the league right now: the Cape side beat Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila 3-0 this past weekend to rack up a hat-trick of wins for the first time this season, while their opponents have put together an extraordinary run of 14 matches without defeat, claiming 34 points from a possible 42 in the process.

In fact, AmaZulu are just three points off the pace set by leaders Mamelodi Sundowns (albeit having played two games more) and McCarthy wants to see his side put the pressure on the Brazilians in what remains of the season.

DStv Premiership League Table

“We were slightly a bit disappointed with our last home game playing Mamelodi Sundowns where we didn’t get the three points,” said the former Bafana Bafana striker after a 2-1 home win over TS Galaxy his past weekend.

“So, we said today is the game where we need to lift ourselves up. The game came three days after Sundowns and this is a perfect way to bounce back with the three points. We put some more pressure on everybody else.”

‘Downs themselves have a challenging home match against Golden Arrows (who are just four points off the top) and will be looking to bounce back from a tough week in which they exited the Nedbank Cup and suffered a first league defeat of the season, going down 2-1 at home to Kaizer Chiefs this past Sunday.

“It was not a game we should have lost or even drawn,” said Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi. “We had a lot of opportunities to add a goal or two. When we move a lot and our passes are precise we always do something. To say we have lost this match, it’s a very sour feeling.”

The midweek action also features Swallows FC and SuperSport United meeting at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday, while Tshakhuma and Chippa United will continue their battles against relegation with matches at home to Bloemfontein Celtic and away to Chiefs respectively.

DStv Premiership midweek fixtures

Tuesday 27 April

15:00: Stellenbosch FC v Maritzburg United

17:00: Swallows FC v SuperSport United

Wednesday 28 April

15:00: Tshakhuma TM v Bloemfontein Celtic

15:00: Kaizer Chiefs v Chippa United

17:00: Mamelodi Sundowns v Golden Arrows

17:00: Cape Town City v AmaZulu

17:00: Baroka FC v TS Galaxy