Before the derby, Royal had gone for three matches without a win in the league.
They had lost to Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City before playing to a goalless draw with TS Galaxy on Tuesday.
Ironically, Royal’s last victory was in another KZN derby when they beat Golden Arrows 3-1 in October.
AmaZulu probably deserved to go to the break trailing because of their woeful first-half performance.
Usuthu didn’t have a shot on target in the first half and they needed to do better in the final stanza if they were to get anything from the match.
To try to change this, AmaZulu coach Romain Folz brought in Lehlohonolo Majoro and Thabo Qalinge for the ineffective Gabadinho Mhango and Larry Bwalya.
The changes did give Usuthu a bit of aggression in attack, but it was Royal that managed to find another goal to win the match.
Substitute Macuphu who replaced Motebang scored the second goal for Thwihli Thwahla assisted by another replacement, Menzi Masuku.
There was drama before Macuphu’s goal after match referee Christopher Kistoor awarded the host a goal before the referees convened to rule it out.
This was after realising Motebang’s long-range shot that hit the crossbar didn’t cross the goal line.
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Royal AM end winless run with victory over AmaZulu
Image: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
Royal AM claimed an emphatic 2-0 victory over their Durban rivals AmaZulu FC at Chatsworth Stadium to end their three-match winless run in the DStv Premiership.
Sera Motebang and Mxolis Macuphu scored a goal in each half, with another goal ruled out after a protest by AmaZulu.
Motebang scored in the 12th minute while Macuphu found the back of the net on 85 minutes.
Royal led 1-0 at the half time break and knew they would have to work twice as hard to stop Usuthu from bouncing back.
Motebang headed the ball in from an excellent free kick by the evergreen Ellias Pelembe.
Motebang was given all the time and space to send the ball to the net by the Usuthu defence.
Had the Lesotho-born forward missed the ball, it would have still found an unmarked and dangerous Ricardo Nascimento to send the ball in.
Before the derby, Royal had gone for three matches without a win in the league.
They had lost to Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City before playing to a goalless draw with TS Galaxy on Tuesday.
Ironically, Royal’s last victory was in another KZN derby when they beat Golden Arrows 3-1 in October.
AmaZulu probably deserved to go to the break trailing because of their woeful first-half performance.
Usuthu didn’t have a shot on target in the first half and they needed to do better in the final stanza if they were to get anything from the match.
To try to change this, AmaZulu coach Romain Folz brought in Lehlohonolo Majoro and Thabo Qalinge for the ineffective Gabadinho Mhango and Larry Bwalya.
The changes did give Usuthu a bit of aggression in attack, but it was Royal that managed to find another goal to win the match.
Substitute Macuphu who replaced Motebang scored the second goal for Thwihli Thwahla assisted by another replacement, Menzi Masuku.
There was drama before Macuphu’s goal after match referee Christopher Kistoor awarded the host a goal before the referees convened to rule it out.
This was after realising Motebang’s long-range shot that hit the crossbar didn’t cross the goal line.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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