PSL
Winners & Losers: PSL Matchday 7
The latest PSL weekend was an eventful one, with late goals, comebacks, penalty misses and red cards.
League leaders Sekhukhune needed a late goal to maintain their position at the top of the table, and continue their ongoing chase towards a unique PSL record. Sundowns and Polokwane City both came back from a goal down to win their games, while Magesi and Richards Bay also picked up maximum points. However, there were humbling defeats for a group of experienced coaches, and ongoing concerns for Siwelele and Chippa. Winners & Losers is a statistical review of the weekend action.
Winners
Eric Tinkler
When you leave a club that is later relegated, many associate your presence there as part cause of the outcome. But putting blame for Cape Town City’s woes on Tinkler is both harsh and unjustifiable. Since joining Sekhukhune, Tinkler has proved that he still has it – 34 points from 16 games would extrapolate to 64 points for a full season, enough points to win 17 of the PSL titles from the past. It’s only Q1, but the praise is well deserved.
19 – Only three sides in PSL history (out of 476 unique sides i.e 16/18 per season) have ever started a league season with a better points tally than Sekhukhune so far (those three had 21 points from 21).
Sekhukhune chasing a PSL record
Underlying United’s form is a goalscoring streak that has not been seen on our shores in 25 years. They needed a late goal to continue their streak, but those associated with the club will say it was right on time.
23 – Only Orlando Pirates (29 games in a row between 2000 and 2001) have ever gone on a longer scoring run in PSL history than Sekhukhune’s 23.
Magesi
A first win of the season for John Maduka’s side, making them the last team to register a victory in the league this season. What better way to kickstart their campaign than beating fellow strugglers Siwelele.
11 – This was Magesi’s first win in 11 league games, since beating TS Galaxy in March.
Iqraam Rayners
“It’s clear the team needs extra energy in the front, extra quality, we lost important resources from last year, it’s only one name, but his name has a lot of impact on the team.” – Miguel Cardoso recently.
Sundowns relied on Lucas Ribeiro’ excellence last season, and one would expect them to struggle in his absence. Yet, in Iqraam Rayners, Downs have a lethal finisher, whose influence shows no sign of abating.
50 – Rayners has now scored 50 league goals in the top-flight, and is the 39th player in PSL history to reach the mark.
Polokwane City
Twice they have played this week, twice they have conceded the first goal, came back to win and got the winner in the 90th minute or later.
7 – Polokwane City have won seven points after falling behind this season, more than any other side.
Losers
Siwelele FC
A tumultous week for Siwelele, whose chairman confirmed that Stan Matthews (CEO) and Andre Arendse (Assistant Coach) have departed their roles, with new appointments in those key positions. Will these be the changes that inspire a turnaround?
6 – Siwelele have failed to score in six consecutive games. The last team to go on a longer run without scoring was TS Galaxy in 2022.
Experience
Between them Gavin Hunt, Luc Eymael, Steve Barker and Manqoba Mngqithi have overseen over over 1,500 matches for PSL teams. But this was a tough weekend for this group of experienced coaches, who all found themselves on the losing side.