Mamelodi Sundowns have bettered the record of last season after the halfway mark of the campaign is gone.
The Tshwane giants are sitting pretty at the top of the DStv Premiership standing with 37 points after 15 matches played.
This time last season after 15 matches were played, they had collected 36 points, just one short of their 2022/23 tally.
In the season before that where it took them until round 22 to suffer a loss after the appointment of Manqoba Mngqithi and Rulani Mokwena as co-coaches, they had collected 33 points after 15 games.
In the 2015/16 season where they broke many records and collected 71 points in the league, which is still the record tally since the league changed its formats from 18 to 16 teams ahead of the 2002/03 season, Downs had collected 30 points at the halfway point under the legendary Pitso Mosimane.
While this season Sundowns have collected more than they have ever done in the past seasons, there is an appetizing threat that this season might be the one where they can beat their record 71 points tally from seven years ago.
If Sundowns can win all the remaining games this season, something you can’t put past them either, they will end the season on 82 points. To have that number of points is something that no team has ever done, not even during the NSL days when the league had 18 teams.
Even in 1988 when Sam Khambule was the star player for the club, claiming the Player of the Season when Sundowns won the league title where it was played through a calendar year unlike now from August to September with 18 teams, Sundowns earned just 44 points to win the league.
The Tshwane giants next host Chippa United at Loftus Stadium on Tuesday (19:30) and another three points are on the horizon by the look of things.
Since the Chilli Boys were promoted to the PSL top flight ahead of the 2012/13 season, they have not beaten Sundowns in Pretoria in all competitions.
But coach Rulani Mokwena still threw in a caution that the Eastern Cape side will set up the same way as Richards Bay did at King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday.
“Fortunately, while preparing for Richards Bay match, I watched Chippa versus Richards, a 3-3 draw (in October last year). What a difficult game,” said Mokwena, whose side has yet to concede a goal, having scored 14 goals and are yet to drop points since he was named the sole head coach.
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“They are very stubborn, good mentality, so it will be difficult. So we got to work hard and try to make sure that we are ready to give it another go again.”
