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Johannesburg - Late goals in each half from Tangeni Shipahu and Ayanda Dlamini helped AmaZulu climb to ninth place on the Premiership table with a 2-0 victory over Wits at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Tuesday.
The opener came in the 45th minute when Namibian forward Shipahu finished powerfully from the edge of the box.
It was just reward after they dominated for large periods of the game, with the win a first at home since beating Bloemfontein Celtic five games ago in October.
Wits for their part dropped a place to 10th on the standings.
The first 45 minutes was all AmaZulu as they dominated from start to finish.
They should have been ahead within the opening four minutes but were denied by an excellent double save by Emille Baron, who first deflected Tamsanqa Teyise’s header from 12-yards out, before blocking a shot from Ayanda Dlamini from the left.
Four minutes later, Tsweu Mokoro played a delightful through ball to Goodman Dlamini, but the forward unsuccessfully tried to put his chance through the legs of Baron.
At the other end, Sibusiso Vilakzi was given space outside the box and drew a splendid one-handed save from Tapuwa Kapini acrobatically scrambling to his right and tipping over.
Mulelo Mabizela then made the first of several errors when he laid the ball into the path of Kagiso Senamela, but Baron was again on his toes diving to his right to turn the ball wide.
Midway through the half, Ayanda Dlamini beat the off-side trap on the right and was through, but fired across the face of the goal as Wits continued to absorb the pressure.
There was a rare chance for the Clever Boys on the half-hour mark when Sifiso Vilakazi forced Kapini to drop to his left and turn the ball away for a corner after the Usuthu defence thought he was off-side.
Former Bafana Bafana defender Mabizela again lost concentration just before the break, but Senamela opted to shoot instead of going wide and watched his effort deflected away for a corner.
There was no denying AmaZulu on the stroke of half-time when Shipahu was put through by Senamela and finished powerfully and low from just inside the box.
It was 1-0 at the break and after the restart Goodman Dlamini should have doubled the advantage, but saw his rising shot tipped over by Baron.
The busy Wits keeper was again called into action after an hour when he had to use his legs to keep out Ayanda Dlamini.
Play was held up for over five minutes in the closing stages after an injury to goalkeeper Kapini with seven minutes added on.
Eight minutes into stoppage time, Goodman Dlamini played a neat pass to Ayanda through the middle, with the striker taking a touch, before poking in past Baron.
