Blueprint for beating Kaizer Chiefs revealed - 'We know that their full backs are too slow'

Polokwane City managed to secure a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Kaizer Chiefs at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium over the weekend, coming from behind to frustrate the Glamour Boys.

Following the stalemate, coach Willy Moloto was remarkably candid about his tactical approach, highlighting specific personnel issues within the Chiefs backline that his side looked to exploit throughout the contest.

Moloto suggested that the key to unsettling the visitors lay in the pace, or lack thereof, on the flanks of the Amakhosi defence.

The coach revealed that his instructions to the players were centred on maintaining high intensity to force errors from the Chiefs wide defenders.

"And show them what is it that we need to do and encourage them to say, 'Remember the pattern that we're doing during the week, Moloto told the media.

"This is something that it could work for us.' And we came back strong. We know that their full backs are too slow and if you put them under pressure, they lose concentration.

"So, it's something that I said, 'Let's keep on putting more pressure on them. Let's put the ball more on their half, then they will open up' and they usually open up," he said.

The intervention proved successful as the home side looked far more dangerous after the break. By squeezing the game and forcing the Chiefs full-backs into uncomfortable positions, Polokwane City managed to salvage a point.

This tactical revelation could serve as a pathway for other Betway Premiership sides who may now look to target the same areas when facing the Soweto giants in the coming weeks.

Despite the successful comeback, Moloto admitted that his side should have perhaps taken more from the game had they been clinical in the early stages.

He noted that a lack of composure in the final third prevented them from securing all three points.

The coach pointed out specific instances where better decision-making would have resulted in a different scoreline before the half-time whistle blew.

"It's a, you know, sometimes to celebrate before, you know, 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. But it's 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 a maximum points,'" Moloto observed.

The draw means Kaizer Chiefs missed the opportunity to move into second place in the standings, following what was officially recorded as a Petersen own goal.

Now lying in fourth, after a run of two wins and three draws in their last five matches, Chiefs are already eight points behind league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, but do have two games in hand.

The Soweto club know there is no room for error in their chase for PSL glory and Fernando Da Cruz will have to quickly figure out a way to combat teams who target their "too slow" full backs.