DSTV Premiership Fixtures | Winners & Losers Review by Opta Jabu

It is a great week for Amakhosi, after their 3-1 win over the weekend against Swallows FC they are second now on the log. Royal AM is contesting in the top flight football sitting 3rd on the log after their win over the weekend. Check out our winners and losers from the DSTV Premiership by OptaJabu.

Sundowns – Winner

It has been a bit of a strange week for Sundowns, who dropped four points in the space of four days, in the process giving away a two-goal lead against Supersport. The third draw in succession would have sent tongues wagging, but the champions found a way to prevail against a tricky opponent in Sekhukhune. Downs are on the winners list not because of another routine 2-0 win, but because they keep adding to the records:

17 – Sekhukhune was the 17th different side they faced in 2021, and the 17th that they also managed to beat. The previous best 100% record for a calendar year was Chiefs in 2014, who beat all 16 teams they faced that year at least once.

Royal AM (Number 18) now stands in the way of a calendar year slam.

Neo Maema – Winner

His signing may have gone under the radar for many during the transfer window, perhaps it is because he came from troubled Celtic. Yet Neo Maema is proving early on in the season that Sundowns made an astute acquisition. We highlighted his understanding with Peter Shalulile recently (all his 5 assists have been made for the Namibian’s goals) – and he got the favour repaid on Saturday, as Shalulile set him up for the opener.

5 – Maema has been directly involved in five goals in the last five games, as many as he was involved in throughout all of last season for Celtic.

Kaizer Chiefs – Winner

We’ll cover them more in the Losers section – but Swallows are a team in disarray at the moment. Beating them should not be met with an award, but Chiefs and Stuart Baxter deserve praise for how they KO’d a floundering opponent. That Chiefs managed two goals in the final 5 minutes of the half is testament to their hunger for the result. 0-0 at half-time away from home would be considered acceptable by many, but first Keagan Dolly and then Khama Billiat provided the attacking wherewithal needed to put what turned out to be a final nail in Brandon Truter’s coffin.

1 – This was only the first time a team managed to score two goals against Swallows FC before half-time.

Rolay AM & John Maduka – Winner

Only Sundowns (19) have won more points at home in the league this season than Royal AM. The turbulence that surrounded their early season off-field issues is getting forgotten with each week and the man at the helm is thriving:

6 – John Maduka has won 6 games as Royal AM coach this season, as many as he won with Celtic throughout all of last season.

Victor Letsoalo – Winner

Victor Letsoalo hasn’t scored since the start of October. But that does not mean he has not been involved. He’s assisted three of the five goals his club has scored since his last goals. He’s more than just a finisher.

Khama Billiat – Winner

10 goal involvements in 13 games this season is already admirable, but the weekend brace also takes him to 94 PSL goals overall. He’s just six away from becoming only the sixth player to score a century of PSL goals. Not bad to join a club with Siyabonga Nomvete, Daniel Mudau, Tico Tico Bucuane, Collins Mbesuma, and Mabhuti Khanyeza.

Lebohang Mokoena – Winner

Almost eight years since his last top-flight goal, Cheeseboy Mokoena found the net with a cheeky finish against Chiefs. Turned out to be just a consolation, however. Desmond (2-2 draw) puts AmaZulu among the winners for the weekend. It’s the character they showed to come from 2-0 down so late and take home something.

Swallows – Loser

It is a widely held belief that the worst team in PSL history is Mother City, who won two games in the 1999/00 season on their way to relegation. Indeed two wins are the lowest that a team has ever managed in a full PSL season – with Tembisa Classic (2001/2) and Jomo Cosmos (2007/8 and 2011/12) the only other sides to do that. Besides two wins, there is one other thing that these teams had in common – They were all relegated.

It’s only 12 games into the new season and Swallows already have one win, but their form over the last 31 games has been at Mother-City levels.

2 – Swallows FC has won just two of their last 31 league matches (D8 L21). was the first time in Stellenbosch’s top-flight history that they led by two goals but ended up without a win.

The only difference is that Mother City scored more goals (22 in 34 games) than The Dube Birds have in their dry spell (19 in 31).

There are two surprises about the statement sent out by the club late last night. Firstly, it came so late at night (9 PM), and secondly – their failure to make a decision much much earlier.

Yet, one could even say the irony is in the lateness of the statement, in that, the clock was ticking mercilessly towards midnight – both literally, and figuratively for the club’s survival chances.

Stellenbosch – Loser

Two games, two defeats, and Sundowns next on the fixture calendar. Steve Barker must stop the rot before a promising season fades away.

Baroka – Loser

Baroka has a 100% losing record when 2-0 down at halftime. They had impressively fought their way back to 2-2 with 10-men, only to be undone by a late penalty against Arrows. That must have hurt.