STATS: PSL Hat-tricks

Relebohile Mofokeng was the talk of the footballing town this past weekend, after scoring three goals in Orlando Pirates’ 6-0 win over TS Galaxy. While the top-flight has produced 23 braces (players scoring twice in the same game) in the league this season, hat-tricks have not come as often. Mofokeng’s treble was only the second since the beginning of the campaign, after Puso Dithejane scored for the same TS Galaxy in August. We break down some context behind Mofokeng’s standout performance.

What Orlando Pirates record did Mofokeng set?

Overall, Mofokeng became the 10th Orlando Pirates player to bag a hat-trick in a league game in the PSL era. The first player to score three goals in a PSL-era league game for Pirates was Jerry Sikhosana on 1 April 1998, against Umtata Bush Bucks. Sibusiso Zuma and Pollen Ndlanya also enjoyed trebles for the club in the early 34-game period. In 30-game seasons (2002/03 onwards), Benedict Vilakazi, Thulasizwe Mbuyane, Tendai Ndoro and Gabadinho Mhango also joined the Pirates hat-trick club. Post-pandemic (2020/21 onwards), Monnapule Saleng and Tshegofatso Mabasa (twice) have claimed the match ball at the end of a Pirates game.

21 – At 21 years, 4 months & 27 days, Mofokeng has set a new record as the youngest Pirates player to grab a league hat-trick.

Have hat-tricks always been so rare?

In total, this was the 130th hat-trick scored since the inauguration of the PSL in 1996/97. Pollen Ndlanya scored the first ever hat-trick in PSL history, on 24 September 1996, for Kaizer Chiefs against Witbank Aces. Post-pandemic, hat-tricks have become a bit more scarce. The 2020/21, 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns produced three hat-tricks each, while 2021/22 and last season only delivered two apiece. In the 1998/99 season, when Kaizer Chiefs lost the title to Sundowns on goal difference (both teams had accumulated a PSL record 75 points), a record of 10 hat-tricks was scored in the league. Seven different teams boasted a hat-trick scorer then.

0 – The 2017/18 season is the only campaign to end without a hat-trick scored in the league.

How do Orlando Pirates compare to other clubs?

On a club-level, 31 different clubs have witnessed a hat-trick scored in their favour. This includes clubs that are no longer in the top-flight like Hellenic, Ria Stars, Witbank Aces, Dynamos and more. Among clubs still in the top-flight, Golden Arrows have five, AmaZulu four and Chippa United boast three. Interestingly, Pirates have dominated the hat-trick scorers in recent years. A total of 11 hat-tricks have been recorded since the 2022/23 season, and four have come off the boot of a Pirates player. No other team has more than one hat-trick in the last four campaigns. However, Sundowns and Chiefs still dominate this count when going back in time.

16 – Sundowns and Chiefs have seen 16 hat-tricks scored by players in their colours, the most of all teams in PSL history.