Online Reporter
Blessing Malinganiza
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THANDO Ngwenya has matched the South African Premiership record, set by former Zambian captain Chris Katongo twenty years ago, by scoring in the first four games of the season.
The Warriors forward scored a brace in AmaZulu’s 2-5 defeat at the hands of African champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday night.
If Ngwenya scores in his next match, he would have set a new record in Supe Diski.
Katongo, who was playing for Jomo Cosmos back then, did not score in his fifth match.
The Zambian won the Golden Boot that season, with 15 goals, despite playing just half of the season.
AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane has hailed Ngwenya’s goal-scoring form but has warned his side against becoming overly dependent on the forward.
“There’s no doubt about it. Even last season, if you check, if he did not get the injury, I think he was going to help us big time,” said Zwane.
“Unfortunately, he missed about two-and-a-half months of the season when we needed him the most.
“He was already on six goals and he also had a lot of one-v-ones earlier on in the season where he did not take those chances.”
Zwane added:
“I even said to them last season, before he got injured, he could have easily been on 12, if not 14 already.
“And it’s good to see him scoring goals,” he said.
However, the AmaZulu coach warned that the club cannot afford to rely solely on Ngwenya for goals.
“The only worrying factor is it can be only him that scores for us. Others, they also have to take responsibility.
“You can’t rely on him because should he get injured again, then we’re going to have a problem,” Zwane said.
Ngwenya’s importance to the AmaZulu attack was further underlined against Sundowns when he began struggling with cramps late in the match.
Zwane admitted the situation presented a difficult decision, with the club lacking another forward currently capable of providing the same goalscoring threat.
“Towards the end of the game, he started cramping, and that was a worrying factor from our side,” he said.
“Sometimes you want to take him out, but you look at who can give you goals, and we don’t have another prolific striker like him at the moment.”
Zwane said AmaZulu have other attacking options, but some players are still working their way back after missing a significant portion of pre-season preparations.
“We do have others, but they’re still coming because they missed half of the pre-season preparations,” he said.
“So, we’re just hoping that probably after the FIFA calendar, we’ll have everyone available and we’ll have a pool of players to select from.”
