Usuthu Ambush: AmaZulu Out To Silence High-Flying Pirates

AmaZulu FC will look to silence a high-flying Orlando Pirates side when they meet in Wednesday's Betway Premiership clash at the Jonsson Kings Park Stadium. Kick-off is at 7:30 pm CAT.

FORM

Usuthu suffered a painful 4-3 extra-time exit to Sekhukhune United in the MTN8 quarterfinals on Sunday and despite a spirited fightback, this loss exposed defensive issues they must quickly fix.

Nevertheless, AmaZulu opened their Betway Premiership campaign with a 1-0 win over Stellenbosch FC on August 1 and will be determined to keep their 100 per cent record intact against Pirates.

Meanwhile, Pirates, the defending MTN8 champions, advanced with a hard-fought 2-1 extra-time victory over Durban City on Saturday, showing their knockout resilience.

The Buccaneers also started their Betway Premiership title defence perfectly with a 2-0 win over newly-promoted Milford FC and will aim to maintain their perfect start to the 2026/27 season in Durban.

TEAM NEWS

There are no suspensions for either side.

AmaZulu will be without first-choice goalkeeper Darren Johnson, who remains in injury rehab, meaning Wilfried Kouassi — who made his debut in goal against Sekhukhune — is expected to start again.

Orlando Pirates, meanwhile, are sweating over the fitness of captain Nkosinathi Sibisi after Abdeslam Ouaddou confirmed he was forced off at halftime with an injury against Durban City.

WHAT WAS SAID?

AmaZulu FC Head Coach Arthur Zwane

“Just before halftime I even signalled to the players that there’s only three minutes left, let’s kill the game, let’s slow everything down. Again, we left them with a lot of room to play. They played from outside to inside, we lose the ball, they equalise," Zwane said.

“Second half, I’ve never seen such horrible defending from my side... When we had three other defenders on him, I told them he is left-footed, force him to go to his right, don't allow him to go inside.

"After equalising, we should have scored two or three goals. Quick goals kill the game. It’s one of those things,” he said. “You need to learn from these mistakes.”

Orlando Pirates Head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou

“I’m not here to give flowers to people. We are not in the circus. We are in a professional ecosystem. There are a lot of expectations. If you want me to remind you of my two first games last season, you feel that I was happy to have eight bodyguards around me?

"I want to win. Of course I’m going to play the strongest team because the fans want to win this competition, the club wants to win it as well, and I want to win it as well, and it won’t be easy. So I need to put a strong team and the players who deserve to play because they show in training, they show in the preparation.

"There is nothing guaranteed, and it’s how we push the players to have competition. But I’m not here to give flowers, because when you lose two or three games, who is in the headlines?”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya, AmaZulu FC: The Zimbabwe international is in red-hot form with three goals in his last two matches — two against Sekhukhune United and one against Stellenbosch. Ngwenya will be looking to hurt Pirates with his clinical finishing.

Patrick Maswanganyi, Orlando Pirates: The Bafana Bafana international opened his account for the season with a morale-boosting goal against Durban City. The man nicknamed 'Tito' will look to use his creativity and dead-ball ability to cause AmaZulu real problems.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

LAST 10 LEAGUE RESULTS

Season Result Scorers

2021/22 AmaZulu 1-1 Pirates Moremi; Hotto

2021/22 Pirates 2-1 AmaZulu Peprah 2; Memela

2022/23 Pirates 1-1 AmaZulu Mothwa (og); Maduna (pen)

2022/23 AmaZulu 0-4 Pirates Monyane, Mofokeng, Saleng, Dlamini

2023/24 AmaZulu 0-0 Pirates

2023/24 Pirates 1-0 AmaZulu Mabasa

2024/25 Pirates 2-1 AmaZulu Nkota 2; Ekstein

2024/25 AmaZulu 1-1 Pirates Maswanganyi (og); Selepe

2025/26 AmaZulu 0-2 Pirates Mofokeng, Johnson (og)