Amazulu beat Ajax Cape Town 4-3 on penalties after two hours of football in the Nedbank Cup game played in Durban on Tuesday evening.
The game between Ajax and Amazulu was locked on a 3-all score line to go into a penalty shootout after extra time.
Ajax lead twice in the regulation 90 minutes with goals from Terror Fanteni and Khama Billiat (2) but Amazulu fought back to take the game into extra-time.
This was a great game of counter-attacking football that kept the local fans on the edge of their seats for 120 minutes.
Ajax opened the scoring when Terror Fanteni crashed the ball into the Amazulu net after he was put clear by Mokeke on the edge of the box (1-0).
The constant Ajax pressure paid-off when Billiat made it 2-0. Fanteni held-up a long pass forward from the Ajax defence; he played the ball to Billiat who beat the advancing keeper with a shot to the far corner.
Amazulu never gave up and they were rewarded when Tevese scored with header from a corner-kick.
Amazulu poured forward and tested the Ajax defence with shots into a crowded penalty area. Dlamini scored for Amazulu when he broke clear of his marker and fired at the Ajax goal, Roberts dived low to his right to make the save but Dlamini latched onto the rebound to put the ball into the back of the Ajax net.
Ajax 2 – Amazulu 2, game on
Minutes later it was Ajax’s chance to celebrate when Billiat beat the offside trap to lob the ball over the advancing Amazulu keeper to give Ajax a 3-2 lead.
Sean Roberts made a few good saves to keep out the Amazulu attack as they searched for an equaliser.
Ajax could have sealed the result when Cole Alexander ran onto a through ball from a midfield position, he passed to Billiat who scored but the goal was ruled out because Billiat was adjudged to have been in an offside position when the ball was played forward.
With the time running out, a last minute goal from Dlamini gave Amazulu a 3-all draw to send the game into extra time. Lewis held the ball on the edge of a crowded Ajax penalty area and Dlamini fired his shot off the toes of Stanton Lewis through the congested penalty area to score.
Extra time was played at a slower pace as the players tired, yet they created a few opportunities to win the game. Akpabio fired wide from close range and Dlamini forced Roberts into making a great save, diving to his far right to push the ball wide of his goal.
Amazulu scored all their penalties to win a place in the next round of the Nedbank Cup.
Go to: Ajax out of Nedbank Cup
