By The Numbers: PSL Midweek Games

Only two games featured during the week in the PSL, with Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates playing catch up after their continental commitments over the weekend.

On Tuesday, Orlando Pirates beat TS Galaxy 2-0 to climb further up the table into third. And then on Wednesday, Kaizer Chiefs came back from a goal down against AmaZulu to draw 1-1 at home, but will be disappointed they did not make the most of their chances. 

By The Numbers is a statistical deep dive into the midweek action.

Abdeslam Ouaddou’s magical September

After losing thei first two league games, the pressure was firmly on Orlando Pirates new coach Abdeslam Ouaddou. But clearly, winning the MTN8 at the beginning of September has helped ease things, and set Pirates up for a better month. Ouaddou is the third Orlando Pirates coach in PSL history to oversee seven consecutive wins for the club across competitions, after Viktor Bondarenko (1999) & Jose Riveiro (twice in 2024). However, he is the first to do so while keeping a clean sheet each time.

5 – games played by Pirates in September

5 – wins by Pirates in September (a 100% win rate)

1 – the best 100% win rate in a month for Pirates in PSL history (Riveiro had the same ratio last month)

Pirates solid foundation

At the foundation of Pirates’ good form is a defence that has proved very hard to breach. The last time Pirates conceded a goal was in a 1-1 draw against Sundowns back in August. Since then they have played seven games across competitions (four in the league, two in the CAF Champions League and one MTN8 final), and no team has managed to score against them.

7 – consecutive clean sheets for Sipho Chaine

7 – consecutive clean sheets for Moeneeb Josephs in 2009

0 – keepers in Pirates history that have kept more than 7 consecutive clean sheets

Mabasa reached a landmark 50 goals

A big week for Tshegofatso Mabasa who scored the 2nd goal in Pirates’ win over TS Galaxy. He has now scored 50 goals for Orlando Pirates across competitions, only the second player to net 50+ for the club in the PSL era after Benedict Vilakazi, the club recor dholder on 58. If you include his goals for other clubs, that takes his total to 70 – one of a handful of players to reach 70+ goals in all competitions.

50 – goals for Mabasa at Pirates (8 behind the club record)

12 – goals for Mabasa at Bloemfontein Celtic

2 – goals for Mabasa at Sekhukhune

6 – goals for Mabasa at Swallows FC

AmaZulu dropping points

Another frustrating evening for AmaZulu, who gave away an early 1-0 lead to draw against Chiefs. While geting a point away from home (especially against a hoodoo team) is commendable, a worrying pattern is emerging for Usuthu. Already this season, they have taken the lead in three away games but failed to win any of them. It happened against Sekhukhune and Magesi, with those games also ending 1-1. Last season, the same happened only twice.

3 – times AmaZulu have led away from home this season (only Sundowns have led more times – 4)

3 – times Amazulu have dropped points from that position

6 – points dropped from winning positions away from home (no other team has dropped more)