Sundowns’ season starts: How the Brazilians have done it over the last seven years

Mamelodi Sundowns will be aiming for an eight successive league title when the new Betway Premiership season gets underway next month, hoping to extend their record-breaking dominance of the domestic game.

Their first league game will be a postponed derby against SuperSport United, moved from September 14 to September 17 at Loftus Versfeld because they will be involved in African Champions League action on the opening weekend of the league.

Last season, Sundowns cantered into an early lead and never looked back as they went onto win by a record margin of 23 points.

Getting off to a good start to the season has their modus operandi in recent season and a surefire recipe for success,

Here is SuperSport.com’s exclusive look at how the Brazilians have begun the preceding seven league seasons in which they have emerged each time as winners:

2017-18: Bidvest Wits were the defending champions, but Sundowns regained their title with a 15-point margin from Orlando Pirates with Wits finishing back in 13th place. Sundowns’ opening game of the league season was the Tshwane derby, away at SuperSport United in Atteridgeville, which they won 2-0 with goals from Hlompho Kekana and Themba Zwane. But they lost three of their next five matches and had nine points out of a possible 18 from their first six matches. That proved the end of their lethargy because thereafter they lost only two more matches in the rest of the league season.

2018-19: Pitso Mosimane’s team went 15 league games without losing from the start of the start of the season, collecting 31 points to the halfway mark. Their unbeaten run came to an end when AmaZulu, coached by Cavin Johnson, surprised them with a 2-0 win at Loftus Versfeld. Tebogo Langerman scored an own goal and then Ovidy Kararu finished off Sundowns’ romp. But the Brazilians kept their league crown edging Pirates into second by two points as they ended up losing only three league games all season – after AmaZulu, to Cape Town City away and at home to neighbours SuperSport United.

2019-20: SuperSport United were again the first opponents of the league season for Sundowns, who won2-0 in their home game at Atteridgeville with goals from Sibusiso Vilakazi and Zwane. Sundowns then went through their next six games unbeaten before losing to Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld. With their African Champions League commitments seeing them fall behind their domestic fixtures, Sundowns were 13 points behind leaders Chefs at the turn of the year. But then came the Covid-19 pandemic and a halt to the season in March. It resumed five months later with eight games left for all teams to play in a ‘bio bubble’ in Gauteng and saw Sundowns haul in Chiefs in dramatic fashion on the last day of a bizarre campaign.

2020-21: Manqoba Mngqithi and Rulani Mkowena were surprise appointment as co-coaches to replaced Mosimane, who went to Al Ahly in Egypt, but any concerns that supporters might have had that the club would struggle under a new coaching regime, with Steve Komphela also brought in as assistant, did not materialise. Sundowns made a bold statement with a 3-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs at Soccer City in their opening league match and went onto put together a 21-match unbeaten run until Chiefs gain revenge by beating them 2-1 at Loftus. Sundowns comfortably retained their title with a 13-point margin over Benni McCarthy’s second placed AmaZulu.

2021-22: The league season started for Sundowns without any crowds at the stadium, and without much conviction either, as they edged the previous season’s runners-up AmaZulu in their opening game on an August Friday night at Loftus Versfeld, courtesy of a penalty from Zwane. But they then set off on another of their unbeaten runs, going 17 league matches without defeat until they met AmaZulu again – this time at King’s Park just before Christmas and lost to a goal from Augustine Mulenga. The lead by then was already growing and at the end of the season it was second title for the duo of Mngqithi and Mokwena as Sundowns finished 16 points above second placed Cape Town City.

2022-23: Zwane again scored in the opening game of the new season as Sundowns won 2-0 away at Cape Town City, with Aubrey Modiba netting the other goal. But they lost their next game at home to TS Galaxy. After 10 league matches, of which they won seven, the axe unexpectedly fell on Mngqithi, who was downgraded to assistant, with Mokwena taking over as solo head coach. He started his new post with a 5-0 away win over Maritzburg and never looked back as the Mokwena-led Brazilians went unbeaten for the next 20 league games to get to 70 points for the season and another 16 point gap over their nearest challenge, who this time were Pirates.

2023-24: Sundowns had their first goal after 12 minutes of the new league season, predictably from Peter Shalulile, and went onto win 2-1 away over Sekhukhune United in Polokwane to begin a remarkable run of that took them to a total (over two seasons) of 53 unbeaten games. They were on course for a first-ever ‘invincibles’ season, looking to finish the entire league campaign unbeaten, which had never been done before in the history of the professional game in South Africa. But they lost their last game of the campaign to Cape Town City at home.