AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin was left fuming at an injustice of his side, who he felt were denied a clear goal against Mamelodi Sundowns in the DStv Premiership match at King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday.
“Tomorrow [on Thursday] in the newspaper and today [on Wednesday] in the table, it will say we lost the game 1-0,” said Martin after the game, clearly boiling inside him.
“AmaZulu beat the best in Africa, but it is unlucky [because other] people decided the opposite.”
The people that Martin was referring to was referee Thabo Mkhabele and assistant Kgara Mokoena, who ruled for Hendrick Ekstein to be offside in the 65th minute, ruling out AmaZulu’s equaliser.
Having seen the replay, the former Kaizer Chiefs attacking midfielder appeared to be onside and Khuliso Mudau appeared to be the last player to touch the ball before it came to Ekstein.
“You were all watching the game, it is about time that someone says something,” said Martin when asked what he was unhappy with.
“But again, we played against the best team in Africa and we should have beaten them. But the people decided the opposite, which happened again in the semi-final [of the Carling Knockout against TS Galaxy] three days ago and during the league and we are not seeing anything [done].
“I think with a fair situation, right now, probably fighting for top four without having a team to be in that position. I thought we played a great game against the best team in Africa.
“We dominated them, we created chances, we are not scoring goals and it is the first time I’m seeing them wasting time towards the end of the first half in the PSL.
“So, that speaks for itself and I’m very proud [of my players]. But unluck again without getting points, but the performance was so good.”
When Martin was specifically asked if he didn’t mind sharing what exactly he was unhappy about, he responded briefly: “I mind.”
Because the press conference looked to be heading in a direction that was not good for the club, Usuthu media officer Brilliant Mkhathini decided to prematurely end it to protect his coach.
