A great weekend for Orlando Pirates, as they crushed their rivals Swallows 4-1 in a Soweto derby. First-place Mamelodi Sundowns were held in a 1-1 draw by Stellenbosch at home, while Kaizer Chiefs won away from home to Richards Bay. Once again, we dive into the weekend’s Dstv Premiership winners and losers.

Winners

Monnapule Saleng – Winners

A contributor to 18 goals for Orlando Pirates across all competitions, he is now the scorer of a first hat-trick for the club in more than three years. Debates around the Player of the Season normally focus on the number of a player’s goals and assists, but there are several downsides to using those two metrics as a benchmark. Players often operate in different tactical systems, with different roles and instructions designed to benefit their teams. Think later that they also play a different number of games and minutes, and make these goal contributions in different game states and against different levels of opposition. G/A should never be the yardstick for annual awards.

Having said that, Saleng’s numbers are still impressive, not just from an awards point of view, but from a Pirates perspective. Pirates have often struggled for a 15-20 goal-a-season player, with some fans still yearning for a Lesley Manyathela-type player 20 years after his contributions to the club. In Saleng, they may be coming close to that. He is the first Pirates player to net double figures for goals in a single season since Gabadinho Mhango in 2019/20. Riveiro’s task is to keep him fit and firing until the end of the season, and then keep him at the club beyond that.

It should not be forgotten that half of those goals came after Grobler turned 30, and after a period of time where he suffered a few career-threatening injuries and recurrences. Two years ago, his father predicted that his son had the ability to reach Siya Nomvete’s 123-goal record.

On a personal level, the hat trick also comes at the perfect time, just 10 days before his birthday. Unless he gets another hat trick this weekend, this will be the perfect icing on his cake.

24y 11m 20d – Saleng is the 3rd youngest player to score a hat-trick for Pirates in the league after Sibusiso Zuma (23y 7m 14d) and Tso Vilkakazi (21y 6m).

Pirates And Second Half Goals – Winner

Before the World Cup, Pirates were the only team without a second-half goal in the league. Back then, the jokes would write themselves. Now, things have changed:

11 – Since the World Cup, Orlando Pirates have scored more second-half goals than any other side (11).

Dion Sede Junior – Winner

He only joined the club after the World Cup, but he is now their joint-top scorer in the league with four goals. The Ivorian has scored as many goals in eight appearances at AmaZulu as he did in 29 appearances while at Marumo Gallants

Iqram Rayners Form – Winner

Four games and six goals since joining the club at the start of last month. Rayners is now Stellies’ outright top scorer with six in all competitions in that brief period. He’s the first Stellies player to score in four consecutive games across all competitions since their 2019 promotion.

Zakhele Lepasa – Winner

He was SuperSport’s outstanding player in their 2-1 win over Arrows, producing two moments of quality that delayed the inevitable Sundowns title party a bit longer. He also became the first player to score a brace for SuperSport United since Ghampani Lungu in October 2021.

Stellies & Late Goals – Winner

Late goals are becoming a recurring theme and one that has been very helpful to their recent resurgence. Before the dramatic 3-2 over City just over a month ago, Stellies had not scored a goal in the final 10 minutes. Trailing against Sundowns with less than five minutes to play, some teams would have been happy with a respectable 1-0 defeat. Not Stellenbosch.

3 – In three of their last four games, Stellies have scored at least once in the final 10 minutes of matches.

These late goals have effectively secured them 5 points.

Sundowns Bench – Winner

When things were not working for Sundowns, Rulani Mokwena turned to his bench and called on Cassius Mailula. Talk about a luxury bench.

7 – Downs have scored 7 goals from subs this season, the joint most of all teams (level with Royal AM).

City’s Bouncebackability – Winner

This was only the third time City came back to win an away game after conceding the opening goal. They did the same against Wits in March 2019 and Royal AM in August 2021.

However, this was the first time ever they won away from home after conceding the opening goal in the second half.

Losers

Chippa United – Loser

For a while, earlier this season, Chippa United were the in-form team in the country. In fact, they were so good, they became the first side to win four matches in a row in the top division on the 18th of October. They achieved this before even Sundowns who only managed to do so the following day.

The gap between the two teams on 18 October was just 2 points. Today the gap is 32 points.

During the World Cup break, Morgan Mammilla revealed that he was undergoing coaching courses in an effort to level up with his peers. In that brief moment, it looked as if Chippa may have found some stability in the coaching department.

Two weeks ago, he was relieved of his duties after a run that saw his team win just one of 10 league games.

We’re not here to condone the hiring and firing of coaches, but Chippa’s form warranted some sort of intervention. They are now just three points above the relegation zone and look like they will be involved in yet another relegation scrap.

1 & 7 – Between 18 October and now, Chippa won the fewest games (1) and picked up the fewest points (7) in the league.

Richards Bay – Loser

The last few seasons have seen newly promoted teams like Swallows and Sekhukhune perform wonders in their first season, only to fall off drastically in the second. Richards Bay seems to be speeding up that process – doing well in the first half of the season, only to fall off in the second. Since the 29 January round of matches, they are the only team that has not won a game in the league.

5 – No team has picked up fewer points than Richard Bay in the second half of the season (5).

Maritzburg – Loser

Eight points dropped at home after scoring first since Fadlu Davids rejoined the club. They only dropped eleven points from the same position in two years since the lockdown.