PSL Season Reviews: Part 2 (Team G – O)

We’re reviewing the stand out statistics for each team in the recently ended PSL league season, by taking a statistical look at each and every team in the division. Many stats have been shared on social and traditional media, but by nature, there is always something in the data that could provide more insight. That is our aim this week – to find the unusual stats on each team from A to Z. Today, Part 2 of our series focuses on Teams G to O.

Golden Arrows

Last season: 9th

This season: 9th

Points swing from last season: +2

Top scorer in all comps: Knox Mutizwa (8 goals)

A run of six clean sheets in the final eight games of a season sounds like title-challenging form, but for Golden Arrows this was not even enough for Top 8. Ninth last season, ninth this season, the 2-point improvement seems merely symbolic. Is it a surprise their averaging finishing position in the PSL is 9.5? If there’s one word to summarise their campaign, it would be inconsistency – only once this season did they win back to back games, and that was in August-September.

Knox Mutizwa’s run of eight goals in ten games at the start of the year stands out for individual achievements, but on a team level, this was another underwhelming season. The 4-0 loss to TS Galaxy was the nadir of the campaign, as it marked just the fifth time Arrows lost by a margin of 4 or more in 23 years of top-flight history. Moreover, it also marked their 250th league defeat in the top-flight, making them the first to reach that (unwanted) milestone. They’re slowly engraving themselves as a classic mid-table club, neither challenging for honours nor in danger of relegation. Yet, if there is one thing they can celebrate, it is that their season was a triumph of teamwork and man-management. Abafana Besthende used only 27 players throughout the campaign, the fewest of all teams. The last team to use fewer players in a season – Golden Arrows in 2020/21 (22 players).

0 – Arrows were the only team that didn’t use 5 subs in any game this season.

Maritzburg United

Last season: 12th

This season: 15th

Points swing from last season: -1

Top scorer in all comps: Amadou Soukouna (8 goals)

If you ask the average neutral what they know about Maritzburg United, they are likely to mention the difficulty of playing away at the Harry Gwala stadium on a Friday night. It is one of those records that was so impressive for such a long time, it will likely remain etched in the mind even when actual Friday results take a turn for the worst. And they have. The truth is – Maritzburg have not won at home on a Friday night since February 2020, before the patient who was a 38-year-old male returned from Italy with his wife – that is, before Covid. 13 luckless games later, Maritzburg at home on Fridays is no longer the same. The malaise has set in for a while and it continued this season, as they picked up 4 of a possible 18 points in such matches.

The absence of fans may have been a factor at first, but it’s been over a season with full crowds back. Where Maritzburg’s home form shaped their seasons (positively) in the past, it is now shaping their season negatively. 23 goals conceded at home is the worst in the division, and Maritzburg’s worst since 2017. In the end they survived to get into the playoffs, but the warning signs have been around for a while – with their last three seasons yielding 30, 31 and 30 points. Dicing with death should not become familiar.

119 – Maritzburg spent 119 days at the bottom of the table this season, the second most of all sides (Marumo 123).

Marumo Gallants

Last season: 10th

This season: 16th (relegated)

Points swing from last season: -5

Top scorer in all comps: Ranga Chivaviro (17 goals)

If you need solid evidence that a week is a long time in football, look no further than Marumo Gallants’ recent results. Seven days ago, they were CAF semi-finalists. Seven days later, they are relegated from the top-division in the land. Had they remained in CAF and got relegated, the consolation would have sufficed. But the hole they had dug proved so deep. Even Sam Allardyce, sorry, Dylan Kerr could not rescue them, despite his impressive relegation-fighting CV.

2018/19 – helps Leopards avoid relegation after joining them in 16th.

2019/20 – helps Baroka avoid relegation after joining them in 16th

2020/21 – helps TTM avoid relegation after joining them in 15th

2021/22 – helps Swallows FC avoid direct relegation after joining them in 16th

2022/23 – fails to help Marumo Gallants avoid relegation, after joining them in 16th

Few men can save a team that wins just five games in a season. In fact, we actually have a number – only six teams in PSL history have finished 14th or higher having won 5 or less games in a full campaign. That, and the number of games played, seemed to catch up in the end, and Marumo will be fighting in the lower division next season, where five wins will not result in much glory either.

46 – Only Sundowns (48) played more games than Marumo Gallants this season (46).

Orlando Pirates

Last season: 4th

This season: 2nd

Points swing from last season: +10

Top scorer in all comps: Monnapule Saleng (15 goals)

Ultimately, their form in the first half of the season cost Pirates any chance of really contesting the title. In a season dominated by Sundowns racing to the quickest ever title win, Jose Riveiro has snuck under the radar as one of the Coaches of the season, even boasting a nomination to that effect. Their form in the second half of the season has given many a chink of light and hope that next season, we could get a competitive title race. To put their second half of the season into perspective, we must remember that after 15 games, Pirates

had just 19 points – as many as Chippa United & Golden Arrows. But in the latter 15 games, Pirates have won more points than any other side (35), and are the only team with double-digit wins (11) and 30+ goals. Did someone say “title winning form”? The failure to take more points against the top-sides will haunt the Spaniard when you consider how impressive the second half of their season was. Pirates won just 33% of their points v teams in the top half of the table – the second worst ratio of all sides (Swallows 30%).

Yet, the Q4 Innovation will certainly accompany the latest Coach of the Month award to the Buccaneers – no team won as many points in the final seven games as Pirates’ 17. Just three more points, and they’d have equalled the PSL record for most points in the second-half of a 30-game season. Credit must go to the entire team.

17 – 17 different players scored for Pirates this season – no team had more unique scorers (Sundowns also 17).

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