Stepping into midfield

Another worrying area for Mathoho is when strikers drop off with their back to goal, requiring him to step into midfield to engage them. He is either slow or reluctant to close them down and pays the price, or he commits too aggressively and is bypassed. In the 2-1 defeat to SuperSport, first Mathoho was drawn out and Matsatsantsa scored from a cross as he was not in a position to defend it. Then, for the second goal, he was slow to track Bradley Grobler dropping off the front and the striker could play a pass behind the defender that led to the winner. In the 5-3 win against Bloemfontein Celtic, Ndumiso Mabena gave Mathoho nightmares by dropping slightly deep and pulling the big centre-back out. One piece of play saw him easily turn away from the defender and slip in Harris Tchilimbou to score.