Aces go home with their tails between their legs
Amazayoni struggled to connect passes and were lacklustre in defence. The body language also seemed to dip as the Cape Town heat also drained each ounce of their energy.
Revenge was a dish best served cold when Ajax Cape Town defeated Mpumalanga Black Aces 3-0 in their Telkom Knockout last 16 match on Sunday at the Cape Town Stadium.
Aces had scored a 2-0 victory in their previous encounter in Mbombela, but this time it was another story with the away team seemingly not on the same page as their more energetic opponents.
Aces went into their second encounter with Ajax this week with the same team that beat the Urban Warriors in their Absa Premiership match at the Mbombela Stadium.
Clive Barker’s side conceded two early goals in this encounter due to lackadaisical defending from the two centre backs.
Thabiso Nkoana scored the first of his two goals after a long pass into the area found the striker who turned and shrugged off the defence to calmly slot the ball past Aces keeper Energy Murambandoro.
Aces were at sixes and sevens in the penalty area and Nkoana duly took advantage with some wonderful ball control to head it past the keeper.
Aces much vaunted defence had finally been breached and it seemed that those two early goals had broken the camel’s back.
As the first half progressed Aces starting to get more relaxed and managed to get a few shots on target from long range.
Amazayoni struggled to connect passes and were lacklustre in defence. The body language also seemed to dip as the Cape Town heat also drained each ounce of their energy.
Masina and Okonkwo played a few telling passes but lacked to put that much needed killer instinct to open their goal-scoring account.
At half-time Ajax had 57% of the possession and were dominating outshooting their opposition by 9-2 attempts.
The second half saw Aces insert more urgency into their game, but it was to no avail. Mabhuti Khenyeza who had done his best despite getting little service from his team, thought he got a penalty but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Ajax’ Abubaker Mobara sealed the victory 15 minutes from time and put the final nail in Aces coffin.
Aces will now look to regroup from the ashes of defeat for their next Absa Premiership encounter against Orlando Pirates at the Mbombela Stadium on October 21.
