3 – Ndumiso Mabena is now Bloemfontein Celtic’s third top scorer in PSL history (21 goals). Only Lebohang Kukame (22) and Moses Spandeel (37) had more league goals for the club in the PSL era.

The Celtic captain has been a bastion of consistency since joining the club in 2017, and was their top scorer in the 2019/20 season with 9 league goals. No Celtic player has managed double figures in the league since Lerato Lamola in 2014/15 (13 goals).

Last night’s goal also brought his total league tally to 49, having scored league goals in the past for Orlando Pirates (7) and Platinum Stars (21). He needs one more goal to join an exclusive club of players that have reached 50 league goals in the PSL era.

Don’t mention his name to Cape Town City though – Mabena scored his eighth league goal against The Citizens on the weekend. Against no other side has he scored more.

Photo: @Backpagepix

2 – Themba Zwane is just the second Sundowns player to score a first-half hat-trick in the league, after Daniel Mudau in 1999, although Zwane’s hat-trick is the earliest (by the 30th minute) and fastest (in the space of 11 minutes) by a Downs player. Quickfire.

2m56s – An African also holds the record for the fastest hat-trick seen in the English Premier League, as Sadio Mane took just two minutes and 56 seconds to score a Premier League hat-trick for Southampton in 2015. Representing.

3 – Nduduzo Sibiya’s goal was the 3rd goal this season that has come from a substitute for Arrows, more than they managed throughout all of last seasons. Replacements.

4 – Themba Zwane is now the 4th highest league scorer for PSL era Sundowns. Only Daniel Mudau (84), Surprise Moriri (51), Katlego Mphela (48) scored more league goals for Downs in the competition. Elite.

7 – AmaZulu have conceded more league hat-tricks in the PSL than any other PSL side (7), with Siyabonga Nomvethe (1998), Pollen Ndlanya (2002), Chris Katongo (2007), Bryce Moon (2011), Bernard Parker (2012),and Eleazar Rodgers (2014) all scoring trebles against Usuthu. Punished.

10 – Stellenbosch FC picked up their 10th league win in the top-flight over the weekend, going level with Michau Warriors (remember them?) on 10 league wins. The Warriors 10 wins also came in 34 games, just like Stellies. Settling.

31 – Golden Arrows’ 2-2 draw v Kaizer Chiefs was their 31st 2-2 draw in the PSL, placing them 3rd on the table for most 2-2 draws behind Supersport & Free State Stars. Desmond.

2014 – Pirates came back from a half-time deficit to win a league game for the first-time since 23 November 2014, six years ago this week in a match that was also against Supersport. Deja-vu.

2017 – The last time there were 2 teams scoring 4+ goals in the league on the same day was 5 December 2017. Just like yesterday, the two matches involved Sundowns and Cape Town City, although Cape Town City lost 4-2 to Maritzburg that day. Deja-vu.

5015 – Sundowns have now seen two league hat-tricks in the space of 79 days, having taken 5015 days (13+ years) to see two league hat-tricks before then. Uncommon.

The 25th PSL season kicks off this weekend with the traditional season opening tournament, the MTN8. Thanks to the global pandemic, the unfamiliar sight of matches without fans will continue for a while longer, but the return of competitive football action somewhat soothes that pain. On the field, an unfamiliar face enters the scene – Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) who qualify for this year’s competition after securing Wits’ top-flight status. The rest of the Top8 line-up has a familiar feel. Chiefs, Pirates, Sundowns and Supersport are names you’re almost always guaranteed to see. Cape Town City have been ever-present since they joined the top-flight in 2016, while Bloemfontein Celtic are making a second successive Top8 appearance, having missed out on three successive seasons before then. For Maritzburg, it’s the 3rd tournament in four years.

TTM v Supersport

A baptism of fire awaits the league newbies TTM, who host the defending champions Supersport in the first quarter-final this afternoon. Supersport lifted the MTN8 last season, beating Highlands Park 1-0 in a tightly contested final. Kaitano Tembo had scored as a player in Supersport’s first ever Top8 match in the PSL era – the 2001 BP Top8 quarter-final. He came full circle last season, leading the team to a second Top8 trophy in 3 years. They’ll also be aiming to become the first side to reach four successive MTN8 finals.

20 – Supersport will be appearing in their 20th Top8 tournament in the PSL era. This will be their 20th appearance in succession, the longest successive run of Top8 appearances by any side in the PSL era.

Pirates v Cape Town City

Tonight’s fixture pits Cape Town City against Orlando Pirates. City effectively denied Pirates the league title in 2018/19 with a 2-2 draw in the penultimate game of the season. That memory is still fresh in the minds of many fans, and has added some extra spice to the fixture in recent years. Both teams endured mixed seasons in 2019/20, mirrored by their mid season coaching changes. For Pirates, the results were immediate, as Josef Zinnbauer led the Buccaneers on a record equalling six wins in a row.

35 – Pirates won 35 points in the league between Zinnbauer’s first game in charge and the end of the season, more than any other side.

For Jan Olde Riekerink, the results were not so immediate, as the Dutchman failed to win any of his first four games in charge. Indeed, Zinnbauer won his first game before Riekerink, even though the Dutchman had been in charge of his club way before the German. However, 2020 went better for City:

60% – From 1 January 2020, Riekerink won 60% of his league games at Cape Town City, the best win ratio of all top-flight teams.

While most of their league encounters end in draws (5 of the 8 matches ended in a draw) this will be just the second Cup clash between the sides. Cape Town City won 1-0 in the 2018 Nedbank Cup quarter-finals, thanks to Ayanda Patosi’s goal.

Sunday 18 October

The league champions Sundowns and league runners up Chiefs will wait until Sunday for their season openers, with both teams starting a new life under new management. Or, under new management structures in the case of Sundowns. Gavin Hunt leads a Chiefs side with many players out for various reasons, while the Mokwena-Mngqithi experiment will be subject to its first external examination. They could ease fans’ worries about life after Pitso with the one trophy that eluded him at Sundowns – the MTN8.

Chiefs v Maritzburg

Kaizer Chiefs return to competitive action for the first time since the heartbreaking last day title loss. Amakhosi host Maritzburg on Sunday afternoon in the third quarter-final. Maritzburg are unbeaten in their last three games against Chiefs, winning two and drawing one. On a manager level, Eric Tinkler is unbeaten in his last three matches against Gavin Hunt, also winning twice and drawing one. As such, this one may be hard to call. Both teams struggled in the bio-bubble at the back end of last season, and they will be hoping to start the season on a better note.

7 – Eric Tinkler has lost 7 matches (Won 4 Lost 3 in all competitions) against Gavin Hunt in his managerial career. Only against Pitso (Lost 8) has he suffered more defeats.

In knockout clashes, Chiefs have historically enjoyed the advantage, progressing in four of the 5 Cup meetings between the sides. One of these matches was an all-time classic:

8 – The highest scoring Top8 match in the PSL era was Chiefs v Maritzburg in the 2015 quarter-final with 8 goals, as Chiefs beat Maritzburg 5-3 in extra-time.

Sundowns v Celtic

The Nedbank Cup finalists meet once again, this time in the fourth MTN8 quarter-final on Sunday evening. It’s a repeat of last season’s quarter-final clash, as both sides finished in the exact same positions in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 league seasons.

3 – This is only the third time that the two same sides are meeting at the quarter-final stage in successive league seasons. 

Celtic and Wits also met in the 2013 and 2014 quarter-finals, while Pirates and Santos met in 2010 and 2011 quarter-finals.

While Sundowns have emerged victorious in seven of the ten Cup clashes between the sides in the PSL era, this fixture has seen its fair share of controversy over the last few years. The latest controversy means Tebogo Langerman is suspended for this fixture, following the administerial gaffe in the Nedbank Cup final that had to go to arbitration.

The second round of DSTV Premiership games starts tonight, with Kaizer Chiefs visiting Chippa United, and Black Leopards hosting Baroka at 19:30 kickoff.

This comes after an entertaining opening weekend that saw 18 goals scattered across the eight games.

14 – Fourteen teams found the net in their opening league matches at the weekend, a record in the 16-team Premier Soccer League (PSL) era, and a joint-record in the whole PSL era (14 also in 1999/2000, in an 18-team league).

Chippa United v Kaizer Chiefs

It has only been one round of games, but it is still unusual seeing Chiefs at the bottom of the table. Declaring a crisis at any club is premature, let alone a club as big as Chiefs. Yet, one can’t shake the feeling that a second successive defeat will not be received well by the Amakhosi faithful.

The 3-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns highlighted how much the transfer ban has hamstrung Chiefs’ squad building process, and expectations should probably be lowered for Gavin Hunt’s first season.

1 – Only once in their PSL history (2008/09) have Chiefs lost their two season opening league games.

That could be the case again tonight, given that their two opening games this season are against teams that have given them the most headaches in recent years.

5 – Since last lifting the title in 2014/15, Chiefs have lost 5 league matches to Sundowns and also 5 to Chippa, the highest number of league defeats they have suffered to any PSL side.

Last season, coach Ernst Middendorp seemed to have exorcised the Chippa ghost, winning both home and away against The Chilli Boys. It’s those results that can give them a boost, plus the fact that Hunt has lost just one of the last ten league games he has overseen against Chippa.

Still, without Samir Nurkovic, Chiefs have to find another way to score. They must do that against a side that has been one of the best defensively this year, particularly when playing at home.

At home, Chippa’s defensive record is that of a league winning side. Last season, they conceded only seven goals in their home fixtures all season, the joint-best defensive record of all sides. Eventual champions Sundowns also conceded just seven at home.

10 – Chippa have kept the most clean sheets at home in the league since the start of last season (10).

Khama Billiat, Leonardo Castro and company will have to be at their best to breach the Chippa wall. They can take confidence knowing that they were the only visiting team that managed to score more than one goal from open play away to Chippa last season.

Bkack Leopards v Baroka

Chiefs are joined by Leopards as the only sides yet to score this season. Leopards visit Baroka, who opened their campaign with a 2-1 win over Maritzburg and currently sit happily in 3rd place on the table.

1 – Baroka won a top-flight league game on Matchday1 for the first time since their promotion in 2016.

Leopards can be confident in how Baroka often struggles away from home. They (Baroka) have won just one of their last ten league games on the road, a record going back to December 2019. Yet, last season the teams met on three occasions, with Baroka winning all the games to nil.