AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy praised the “bravery” of his players as they inflicted a first defeat on runaway DStv Premiership leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
Augustine Mulenga scored the only goal of the game at the Jonsson Kings Park Stadium on Monday night for a hard-fought 1-0 win.
The result lifted Usuthu to third place on the league standings, level with Orlando Pirates in second and 16 adrift of Sundowns.
After the game, a delighted McCarthy said on SuperSport: “Finally something, a bit of consistency for the team but we were made to work exceptionally hard, so I’ve got to give the players credit for showing bravery.
“We were brave today because we knew it was a game that we were not going to dominate, how we want to be a possession-based football team.
“We want to shift the ball but we’re up against the masters in the league at keeping the ball and moving the teams around.”
McCarthy added: “But you know what after a performance like that, you stopped the champions from rolling with it, well it’s theirs to go but this is football and when you play at this level it’s never over until it’s over.
“We’ll just continue to fight but we know we’re far from it, as long as these kind of performances, the mindset that’s what we need from these guys and then we can get ourselves going again and we can get closer to where we should be.”