Martin fumes after ref rules AmaZulu goal offside

AmaZulu coach, Pablo Franco Martin, was left fuming at referee Thabo Mkhabela and his assistant after they ruled what appeared to be a legitimate goal by Hendrick Ekstein during their 0-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns in the DStv Premiership match at King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday.

Ekstein looked to have done enough for the equaliser in the 64th minute after Lucas Costa had given Sundowns a lead from a spot kick in the 21st minute, but Mkhabela and his assistant ruled offside in what appeared to be a legitimate goal.

That left Martin angry at the decision after the match as the result saw them suffer their three successive defeats across all competitions.

"Tomorrow, newspapers will say that we lost the game 1-0, but people decided the outcome," Martin told the media during the post-match press conference.

"It's about time that someone said something about how unfair it was. I mean, we played the best team in Africa, but people [referees] decided the opposite, including our semifinal [against TS Galaxy, where the referee awarded them a penalty even though it looked soft] three days ago and many times during the league and we are not getting anything.

"I think a fair situation would be right now probably fighting for a top four without having this team in this position and probably in the final.

"We played a great game against Sundowns, the best team in Africa. We dominated them, we created chances, we scored one goal and it is the first time I see them [Sundowns] wasting time.

"But we need to be very proud and unlucky we are without a point after performing so well."

Despite the defeat, Martin was encouraged by his side's performance against Masandawana and that there are a lot of positives he took from the match going forward.

"I think we played an amazing game. I think we were defending very well. We changed the approach and pressed them higher," Martin said.

"We then created chances, but we could not convert in the second half. We were not giving them a chance to create opportunities. We dominated the game and that's the positive thing. I think we were superior in many moments of the game and I think we were the best team."