AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco was fuming after their 4-2 Nedbank Cup quarterfinals defeat to Orlando Pirates at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, suggesting the officiating was scandalous as he felt they were robbed. 

One particular incident that irked Franco is the penalty awarded to Orlando Pirates, which was  tucked away by Patrick Maswanganyi on the stroke of halftime.

Referee Masixole Bambiso adjudged AmaZulu defender Taariq Fielies to have fouled Makhehleni Makhaula inside the box. However, replays showed that Fielies never touched Makhaula, the former Usuthu skipper.

"It's such a pity that this kind of a game, which was amazing from both teams, must be decided the way it was. It's a pity that we can't just talk about football today. It's a huge scandal and it's not the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth time during this season [that they are robbed]. I think we are not respected at all,'' Franco stated.

"Nobody is doing anything regarding what's happening in this league in this kind of games [referring to dubious officiating].

"But I have to tell you that I am so proud of this club, of this badge and of this team...the way we played and stood up to compete was amazing after what happened in the last minutes of the first half [where Bambiso gave Pirates a penalty, scored by Maswanganyi]. Any other team would have given up and not be mentally in the game but we came back."

Usuthu broke the deadlock via Hendrick Ekstein on the half hour mark before Pirates equalised courtesy of Kabelo Dlamini 28 minutes later.

Maswanganyi's controversial spot-kick would put Bucs ahead in the 45th minute before Usuthu levelled matters via Fielies three minutes after the hour mark.

Makhaula struck in the 82nd minute to give Pirates the lead again, before Maswanganyi completed his brace and put the game to bed in stoppage time.