Sundowns returned to winning ways on Tuesday evening with a 1-0 victory at home to Richards Bay. Thapelo Morena’s goal was enough to secure the win, as Sundowns edged closer to the PSL record for points. It was the only game of the day. Below are five stats from it..

18 – This was Sundowns’ 18th clean sheet of the season. Only once before (19 in 2020/21) have they kept more clean sheets in a single season.

17 – Ronwen Williams equalled the PSL top-flight record for clean sheets in one season, set by Moeneeb Josephs (17 also in 2009/10).

11 – Richards Bay are now winless in their last 11 league matches (D3 L8), the longest winless run of any team this season.

21 – Sundowns (MD7 – MD27) have equalled their club record for the longest unbeaten league run within a single PSL season (21 also in 2020/21, MD1 – MD21).

802 – The win over Richards Bay brought Sundowns their 800th point at home in the PSL, the first club to reach this landmark.

SuperSport & Marumo Gallants played out a 0-0 draw in the only midweek PSL game on Wednesday night. The result took Gallants up to 13th place on the table, while SuperSport extended their lead ion 2nd by one point. Here are 5 stats from the game:

3 – Bradley Grobler has missed three penalties in the league this season, more than any other player.

19 – Altogether, 19 penalties have been missed in the league this season, as many as there were last season (also 19).

7 – SuperSport are winless in seven away league games (W0 D4 L3), their longest such run under Gavin Hunt, eclipsing 6-game runs in 2011 & 2012.

44 – SuperSport have won 44 points from 26 games, the last time they had more points at this stage was in 2011/12 (45 points)

2 – The only two teams unbeaten in the league since the start of February are Sundowns & Marumo Gallants.

Sundowns came back to draw 1-1 against Golden Arrows and maintain their unbeaten run. In the other evening game, Marumo Gallants came from a goal down to win 3-1 against Chippa and climb off the bottom of the table. Here are five stats from the midweek action.

16 – Sipho Mbule is the 16th player to score for Sundowns in the league this season, more unique scorers than any other side (excluding Own Goals)

8 – Sundowns have dropped as many points (8) in their last five games as they did in the 21 matches before, with six of those points dropped after being crowned champions.

3 – Ranga Chivaviro scored his first top-flight hat-trick, and is the third player to score a hat-trick in the league this season after Monnapule Saleng & Caleb Bimenyimana.

2 – This is only the second time Marumo Gallants come back from a goal down to win a league game (also v SuperSport in Nov 2021)

4 – Among top-flight players, only Peter Shalulile (19) has scored more goals than Ranga Chivaviro (14) across all competitions this season.

Sundowns 5 – 1 Royal AM

Cape Town City 2 – 2 Marumo Gallants

20+ – Cassius Mailula has been involved in 20 goals in all competitions in 2022/23; just the second player to have done so this season, alongside his teammate Peter Shalulile (22).

10 – Khanyisa Mayo (8G 2A) is the first Cape Town City player to be involved in 10 goals this season.

11 – This was Sundowns’ 11th straight home league win, a new PSL record, eclipsing the 10 game run held by Paul Dolezar’s Sundowns in 1999.

19 – Sundowns have picked up their 19th win of the season, equalling their win total from each of the last two seasons (19 & 19). Only once before have they ended a 30-game league campaign with more victories (22 in 2015/16).

DOWNS WINS LAST 8 SEASONS	Won	Pld
2015/16	22	30
2016/17	16	30
2017/18	18	30
2018/19	16	30
2019/20	17	30
2020/21	19	30
2021/22	19	30
2022/23	19	23

10+ – Peter Shalulile has now reached double-figures for goals in four different seasons (three at Sundowns, one at Highlands Park), only the 3rd player in PSL history to do so (also Siya Nomvete & Daniel Mudau).

Players with 3 seasons of 10+ goals

Grobler Bradley

Khanyeza Mabhuti

Mbesuma Collins

Mkhize Phumlani

Moriri Surprise

Mphela Katlego

Mushangazhike Gilbert

Parker Bernard

Shalulile Peter

Young Grant

Zuma Sibusiso

One of the unstated benefits of joining Sundowns is that you get to play many games as they often get deep runs in many competitions. In fact, you actually get a chance to play on every day of the week. Peter Shalulile has found this out in the last two seasons, as Sundowns have played at least once on each weekday for the second successive season.

100% – Indeed, Sundowns have played a game on all seven days of the week this season, the 11th time this has happened for them in the PSL:

Games played by weekday:

Sunday: 3 games played, Monday: 1, Tuesday: 5, Wednesday: 4, Thursday: 1, Friday: 6, Saturday: 11.

Talk about being busy.

Not only have theyt played a game on every day of the week, they have also won a game on each day of the week this season, only the 5th time this has happened for them in the PSL.

Wins by weekday:

Sunday: 3 wins, Monday:1, Tuesday:5, Wednesday:3, Thursday:1, Friday: 5, Saturday:7

Which brings us to hat-trick hero Peter Shalulile.

7 – The hat-trick v Marumo Gallants represented Peter Shalulile’s first goals scored on a Thursday for a PSL club, meaning he’s now scored at least once on all seven days of the week.

The treble also took Shalulile to 94 goals for top-flight clubs (27 at Highlands Park & 67 for Sundowns all comps).

Unsurprisingly, most of his goals have come on a Saturday (30), with the rest scattered across the week.

Sunday: 16 goals, Monday: 4, Tuesday: 14, Wednesday: 21, Thursday: 3 (NEW!!), Friday: 6.

The 100-goal landmark looks very close for him now, but even if he gets there, he will still have this one challenge:

Kelechi Iheanacho is the only player in Premier League history to score a goal on all seven days of the week within a single season in the competition.

Dan Malesela has been placed on special leave at Marumo Gallants, in what seems to be a kind way to relive him of his coaching duties. He may yet come back – who knows, but here are 5 stats that summarise his 4 month stint.

Dan Malesela first arrived to fanfare

1 – Marumo won their first game of the season on Dan Malesela’s return.

1 – The team lost one of its first four games under him (W2 D1 L1), with that loss coming against Sundowns.

But it has gone very wrong 

7 – No team has lost as many games in the league since he joined Maumo Gallants (7).

12 – The Pirates game was his 12th game since he joined the club in October, a contrast to his first 12 games in his last spell.

	Last season when he joined	This season when he joined
Games	12	12
Wins	7	2
Draws	3	3
Losses	2	7
Points	24	9
Points Per Game	2.0	0.75

What could be next?

0 – Malesela is yet to start & finish a PSL season as a coach.

8 – In the time that he was at Marumo Gallants, his previous club (Royal AM) won less points than he did (8 to 9).

The PSL has reached the half-way stage, and here are some stats to help review where things currently stands. Sundowns are cruising at the top of the table, having equalled the halfway point record, while Richards Bay have been impressive in their first season at the top.

12 – Sundowns are the first team in PSL history to win as many as 12 games at the half-way stage of a 16 team PSL season.

37 – 37 points at the half-way mark also equals the record for a 30-game season (shared by 2014/15 Chiefs and last season’s Sundowns).

Once again, their success is built on a strong defence, with 11 clean sheets this season providing that stable foundation.

10+ – Downs have kept 10+ clean sheets at the half-way stage of a PSL season for three consecutive campaigns, the first time a side has done that.

Their 11th clean sheet came on the weekend against Richards Bay, who have been equally impressive.

10+ – Richards Bay are the first newly promoted side in PSL history to keep 10 clean sheets at the half-way stage of a 30-game season, while Sundowns’ 11 shutouts at this stage is bettered only by 03/04 Chiefs & 21/22 Sundowns.

237 – 237 goals have been scored this season, four more than we had at this stage last season (233).

16 – The goal against Cape Town City means Bradley Grobler has now scored a league goal in 16 different calendar years.

He’s scored at least once in every year from 2007 until 2023, missing out only in an injury ravaged 2018.

He previously held the joint record of 15 years which he shared with Siya Nomvete, and Nathan Paulse.

Nomvete scored from 1997 until 2018, missing a few years in between. Paulse scored from 2002 until 2017, missing out in 2009.

They lead a club of just 10 layers to have scored a league goal in 14+ different years. Seven other players scored in 14 different years.

Years	Player	Year of 1st Goal	Year of last goal
16	Grobler Bradley	2007	2023
15	Paulse Nathan	2002	2017
15	Siya Nomvete	1997	2018
14	Carelse Brent	2000	2013
14	Khanyeza Mabhuti	2002	2018
14	Laffor Anthony	2005	2021
14	Maluleke Jabu	2005	2020
14	Meiring Alton	1997	2012
14	Otieno Musa	1997	2010
14	Tshabalala Siphiwe	2005	2018

Of currently active players, Bernard Parker & Majoro are potential next inductees (both 13). Thamsanqa Gabuza and Khama Billiat have scored in 12 different years.