New DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns can already look back at the record-breaking 2022/23 season so far, but there are several more records they can still break.
It is a record sixth consecutive league title, and by winning it in the 24th round of action, it is also the earliest title win in PSL history, with seven games to spare.
Sundowns’ title was confirmed when SuperSport failed to win against Chippa United on Saturday evening. They were the last team who mathematically could catch up with the leaders, but a 1-1 draw in Gqeberha meant that Gavin Hunt’s team were on 40 points with six games to play.
Sundowns, after 23 games were already on 59 points, and so at the end of the season Rulani Mokwena will get to raise the trophy for the first time as the sole Head Coach, to add to the two he already won in the co-coaching role alongside Manqoba Mngqithi.
It was also Sundowns’ 13th title in the PSL era, and they have now won the trophy more than Kaizer Chiefs (4), Orlando Pirates (4) and Supersport United (3) combined.
It has truly been a record-breaking season for Masandawana already, and there could still be more records on the line. They already achieved a record-breaking winning streak of 15 games, and are now just 13 away points from a record haul. Their previous record was 71 points back in 2015/2016.
If they maintain their current gap (19 points) or increase it, it will also be the biggest winning margin. Last season they won by a record 16 points.
Masandawana have also collected 19 wins already this season, with the previous record of most wins during a 30-game campaign set by Downs themselves in 2015/16 with 22. Mokwena’s might even break the record for a 34-game campaign of 23 wins set by Manning Rangers in 1996/97.
There is also the matter of a possible goal difference record. Currently, that stands at 36 goals, which is the record they set last year in the 16-team division. Sundowns also hold the overall PSL record, set in 1998/1999, when they had a goal difference of 44, but that was when the league had 18 teams.
So far, Downs have conceded just nine goals this season and, with seven games to go, they could still break the record of least goals conceded, which stands at 11, and was achieved by Chiefs in 2003/2004.
It has been a remarkable season so far for the Brazilians, with the only blemish being their loss to Pirates in the MTN8 semi-finals. While they failed to defend that trophy, they have now wrapped up the Premiership and could still add two more titles as they are still competing in both the Nedbank Cup and Champions League.
They’ll obviously hope to defend the Nedbank trophy too, but it is likely that all their focus will now be on the Champions League title, and they will be eagerly awaiting Wednesday’s draw to see whom they will face in the quarter-finals.
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A version of this article features in Edition 98 of iDiski Times and is brought to you by DStv.
WHICH RECORDS DO YOU THINK DOWNS WILL STILL BREAK?
