A derby rarely gives you time to settle, and this one gave Durban City seven minutes. By then AmaZulu were ahead, and by half-time they were two up. The Durban City AmaZulu result at Chatsworth Stadium on Tuesday night finished 2-1 to the visitors, Haashim Domingo’s second-half goal giving the hosts hope without ever quite giving them a point.
It was a KwaZulu-Natal derby with a new face on one bench. Eric Tinkler, whose appointment as Durban City head coach the club announced on 8 October, watched his side fight hard and fall just short.
| Score | Minute | Scorer |
|---|---|---|
| Durban City 0-1 AmaZulu | 7′ | Mlondi Mbanjwa |
| Durban City 0-2 AmaZulu | First-half added time | Athini Maqokolo |
| Durban City 1-2 AmaZulu | 72′ | Haashim Domingo |
How the Durban City AmaZulu result was decided
AmaZulu went for the throat. Nkosikhona Radebe’s cross reached Mlondi Mbanjwa on seven minutes, and the visitors were ahead before the home side had found its rhythm.
Durban City had their moments in the first half. AmaZulu keeper Olwethu Mzimela had to deal with efforts from Ethan Brooks and Jean Lubumba, and at the other end Frederick Asare kept City in it, denying Mbanjwa when he was through on goal.
Then came the blow that hurts most in a derby. Deep in first-half added time, Radebe was involved again and Athini Maqokolo finished from close range. Two goals down at the break, and a long walk to the dressing room for the hosts. For a coach whose appointment was five days old, it was not the half he would have planned, and the second 45 minutes would show what his players were made of.
Tinkler’s changes spark a response
Tinkler went for it after the hour. He made a double substitution on 69 minutes, and it paid off almost at once: Domingo, one of the players sent on, pulled a goal back on 72 minutes, and Chatsworth had a game again.
City pushed for the equaliser. Asare had to save from Maqokolo at one end, and City won a run of free-kicks in dangerous areas late on at the other. None of them went in. The club’s own match report put the defeat down to not being clinical enough, and on the evidence of those late set pieces, that is a fair verdict.
What it means for both sides
For AmaZulu, it is momentum. MDNtv reports this as their fourth league win in a row, enough to keep them in the top three. Derby wins carry a little extra, and Usuthu will enjoy the trip home.
For Durban City, there is something to build on, even in defeat. The reaction to going two down was strong, and a new head coach will have learned plenty about his squad in one evening. The finishing is the job for the training ground. Asare, too, can take something from the night: without his save from Mbanjwa in the first half, and another from Maqokolo after the break, City would never have been in a position to chase a point at all. Domingo has also given his new coach an obvious selection question before the next match.
Elsewhere in the province, the league leaders were in Durban too: Sundowns beat Richards Bay 4-1 at Princess Magogo Stadium. Up in Johannesburg, Chiefs and Stellenbosch shared a 1-1 draw. If you want the full round at a glance, the PSL fixtures for Tuesday 13 October are all in one place, and the Matchday Move in Tuesday’s Fluit’s Five had the night circled.
Three points to AmaZulu, a lesson for Durban City. Derbies are often decided by who takes their chances. On Tuesday, that was AmaZulu, twice before half-time.