Winners & Losers: Black Friday weekend

Orlando Pirates climbed to the top of the PSL table following a 2-0 win over Richards Bay on Saturday afternoon. That result was one of two games that saw a winner over a weekend mostly scattered with draws, with Richards Bay beating AmaZulu 2-0 on Friday night in the other win. Of the eight games involving PSL teams this past weekend, six of them ended in a draw (three 0-0s and three 1-1s). In the melee, PSL teams found the going tough on the continent, as Sundowns, Stellenbosch and Kaizer Chiefs were all forced to settle for solitary points in their Group games. Winners & Losers is a statistical review of the weekend action.

Winners

Orlando Pirates taking advantage

The Bucanneers, eliminated from CAF competition, have been playing catch up in the league lately. Impressively, they have made the most of their games in hand, unlike in seasons past, when they never capitalised on such potential advantages.

28 – Pirates have accumulated 28 points in their last 10 league games (P10 W9 D1 L0), their best points tally over a 10-game spell in PSL history.

Evidence Makgopa

It seems highly patronising to congratulate a striker for scoring goals, but the importance of Makgopa’s goals can not be underestimated. He’s now bagged 13 in the league for Pirates and 10 of them have been the opening goal for his team. Of the 10 instances he has scored the opening goal for Pirates, they’ve won nine – a significant habit ahead of AFCON.

1 – This is the first time Evidence Makgopa scores in back-to-back league games for Orlando Pirates.

Ronnie Gabriel getting the most out of Richards Bay

Last season at this stage, Richards Bay had just two wins, five goals, and nine points – they have doubled the wins and goals column, and improved slightly on the points. Ronnie Gabriel’s work may be going unnoticed, but he is building a decent mid-table side. Here, they shrugged off the underdog tag and previous derby failures to record a well-deserved win.

1 – This is the first time this year that Richards Bay scored in a derby, having failed to score in each of their previous four KZN derbies played in 2025.

PSL administrators selling out local football

At 10 am on Friday, the PSL announced that tickets for the Carling Cup final between Orlando Pirates, and Marumo Gallants were officially on sale. Just before 1pm, they shared another announcement, this time citing that tickets were sold out. In May, Nedbank Cup final tickets sold out in 2 hours. In September, MTN8 final tickets sold out in 2 hours. It’s an encouraging pattern, yet…

Losers

PSL administrators (not) selling out local football

Seeing fans flocking to stadiums is a big boost for the overall PSL product – proof that there is genuine appetite for the local game. Yet, consistent promotion across all teams and fixtures would unlock massive untapped potential.

Bittersweet weekend for PSL teams in CAF

All three PSL teams drew their games in CAF, but each result was bittersweet for different reasons. Sundowns will be happy with grabbing a point away in Algeria but disappointed with not scoring away from home again. Stellies will be similarly happy for an away point, but frustrated at conceding a late equliser. Chiefs, meanwhile, showed character to fight back for a draw, yet annoyed they could not get maximum points in a home game.

Away form of PSL teams

Whether PSL teams’ struggles in away games are by design (playing it safe for a point) or by default (they simply can’t impose themselves on the road) needs a study of its own. We are almost halfway through the season, and the away numbers make for grim reading – three teams are yet to win on the road, while 10 of the 16 teams have just one away win. One team has scored only two away goals all season, and only one team in the entire division has more than 10 points away from home.