Biggest Wins In PSL History

After Orlando Pirates’ 7-1 thrashing of Golden Arrows on Saturday evening, we take a look back at the matches to have been won by a six-goal margin and higher in the competition. Altogether, 20 league matches in PSL history have been won by a six-goal margin or higher in the PSL. Three games have been won by seven goals, while 17 have been won by six goals. Pirates’ 7-1 Arrows was the 20th. Below is a brief history of the highest-scoring matches.

7-Goal Margins

8 August 2001: Manning Rangers 7-0 Hellenic
6 June 2004: SuperSport 8-1 Thanda Royal Zulu
14 October 2011: SuperSport United 7-0 Maritzburg United

8 August 2001: Manning Rangers 7-0 Hellenic

Only three league matches in PSL history have been won by a seven-goal margin. On the opening day of the 2001/2 season, Clive Barker’s Manning Rangers beat Steve Haupt’s Hellenic 7-0 in an early signal of intent to the rest of the league. However, it was a false dawn with Manning Rangers ending the season in 10th position. For Hellenic, it was a sign of things to come, as they finished the league in 16th position, escaping relegation by just four points.

6 June 2004: SuperSport 8-1 Thanda Royal Zulu

The second instance of a seven-goal winning margin came on the final day of the 2003/4 season. AmaZulu was renamed Zulu Royals midway through the campaign and ended the season at the bottom of the table. A win on the final day of the season would have saved them from relegation, and things looked good when they opened the scoring through Phumlani Mkhize in the opening half-hour. Pitso Mosimane’s side responded ruthlessly, with eight goals, including a brace each for Ricardo Katza & Daniel Matsau. It remains the only occasion a team has scored eight goals in a league game.

14 October 2011: SuperSport United 7-0 Maritzburg United

The third and final occurrence of a team winning by seven goals was in the 2011/12 season. Title-chasing SuperSport were league leaders, while Maritzburg were third when the teams met in October. A win for either would have sent them to the top of the table at the end of Q1 (8 games). But Gavin Hunt’s SuperSpoprt were too good for Ian Palmer’s Maritzburg, blowing the Team of Choice away, with two braces again (Tebogo Langerman & Jabulani Maluleke). While that 20-goal tally at the end of Q1 remains a record in a 30-game season, SuperSport only scored eight goals in the next 15 games, sliding down the table to 3rd at the end of the season.

6-Goal Margins (for Orlando Pirates)

12 April 2000: Orlando Pirates 6-0 Free State Stars
22 September 2004: Orlando Pirates 6-0 Ajax Cape Town
6 April 2024: Orlando Pirates 7-1 Golden Arrows

There are 17 occasions where a team has won by a 6-goal margin, but we’ll go into detail for Orlando Pirates. Pirates have won by a 6-goal margin on three separate occasions; with Sundowns the only other team to do so on more occasions.

12 April 2000: Orlando Pirates 6-0 Free State Stars

In April 2000, the Buccaneers hosted a struggling Free State Stars and won 6-0 with five of the goals all coming in the second half. They’d score six in the next league game, this time netting five in the first half, with those two games the only occasions Pirates have scored 5+ in a single half in a league game. Weirdly, they were knocked out of the Bob Save by Bush Bucks in between those two games.

22 September 2004: Orlando Pirates 6-0 Ajax Cape Town

Four and a half years later, Pirates beat Ajax 6-0 in a league game in September. Kosta Papic was in charge at Pirates at the time, while Gordon Igesund sat in the opposite dugout. Ajax had been runners-up in the league, but a brace from Phumudzo Manenzhe and goals from Tso Vilakazi, Tyren Arendse, Gift Leremi, and Abednigo Netshiozwi made light of that.

6 April 2024: Orlando Pirates 7-1 Golden Arrows

Pirates fans have waited 20 years to see this happen again in the league. They came close in 2016, beating Jomo Cosmos 5-0. Having lost the reverse fixture 1-0, Pirates cruised to a 4-0 lead in the first half. However, they only managed one goal in the second half, coming in the 90th minute. Until this past weekend, with Tshegofatso Mabasa helping himself to a hat-trick.

Opta Jabu