Moloto’s half-time changes help Polokwane City fight back against Chiefs

Polokwane City coach Willy Moloto said his side’s half-time adjustments helped them recover from a disjointed first half and draw 1-1 with Kaizer Chiefs at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Moloto admitted his players made some poor decisions before the break, but said he was unwilling to criticise them too heavily after they improved in the second half.

He felt Polokwane City, also known as Rise and Shine, should have been more clinical in the opening 45 minutes, including one opportunity where the players appeared to celebrate before the move had been completed.

“Sometimes we celebrate before scoring. I feel Dlamini was supposed to engage more so that the player could come in, or play the ball to Malokwane so that he could just score a nice goal for us,” Moloto told journalists after the match.

“It is something that we are working on, but I can’t fault them. We just have to go back and show them and say, ‘We could have done one, two, three, so that it could give us maximum points.’”

Polokwane City respond after the break

Moloto said he used the interval to remind his players of the patterns they had practised during the week and explain how they could exploit weaknesses in the Kaizer Chiefs defence.

He believed sustained pressure would force the visitors’ full-backs into mistakes and create more space for Polokwane City to attack.

“I showed them what we needed to do and encouraged them by saying, ‘Remember the pattern that we’re doing during the week. This is something that could work for us,’” he said.

“We came back strong. We know that their full-backs are too slow and, if you put them under pressure, they lose concentration. So I said, ‘Let’s keep putting more pressure on them. Let’s put the ball more in their half, then they will open up,’ and they usually open up.”

The result leaves Polokwane City with a point after they had fallen behind, while Kaizer Chiefs missed the chance to claim second place.

Polokwane City will play at home again in their next match, when they face AmaZulu FC at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on 19 September.