2021-22 DStv Premiership season in numbers

The 2021-22 DStv Premiership season is a thing of the past and it was another record-breaking campaign for champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

We run the numbers on the season and pick out the key figures that made it such a memorable campaign.

0 – No team had an unbeaten record home or away this season, AmaZulu were close to going through the entire home season without a loss, but were defeated 2-1 in their final game on their own patch by Lamontville Golden Arrows. That was their only loss. The same was true for champions Sundowns, who lost their final home game to Stellenbosch FC 3-0.

2 – Two players received two red cards this season, TS Galaxy defender Pogiso Sanoka and SuperSport United centre-back Luke Fleurs.

3 – Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Onyango saved all three penalties he faced in the league this season! Mashweu Mphahlele (Baroka FC), Michael Gumede (Lamontville Golden Arrows) and Lebo Manyama (Kaizer Chiefs) all failed to beat him.

3 – Sundowns only lost three games all season – to AmaZulu (0-1), Maritzburg United (1-2) and Stellenbosch FC (0-3).

4 – Swallows FC won the fewest games in the league this season with just four victories in their 30 matches.

4 – SuperSport United lost the most games from winning positions this season. They took the lead in 15 matches and ended up losing four of those. Four clubs were unbeaten after leading – Cape Town City, Stellenbosch FC, Orlando Pirates and Maritzburg United.

5 – Sundowns DStv Premiership win in 2021-22 is their fifth in succession, extending their own record for most consecutive league title triumphs.

6 – Victor Letsoalo scored the most number of penalties in the DStv Premiership this season with six. He netted 15 goals in all.

6 – Judas Moseamedi was the most successful substitute this past season with six goals off the bench. The next highest was only three from TS Galaxy’s Wayde Lekay and Mfundo Thikazi from Royal AM.

15 – Cape Town City goalkeeper Hugo Marques kept the most clean sheets of any gloveman with 15 in his 28 appearances.

16 – Sundowns’ 16 point winning margin in the league is the biggest in PSL history, beating the 14 points they won the title by in the 2015-16 campaign.

17 – AmaZulu played to the most draws this campaign with 17, 10 of which came in Durban. Four clubs had the next most number of stalemates in 14, namely Stellenbosch FC, Orlando Pirates, Chippa United and Swallows FC.

17 – Orlando Pirates picked up the most points from losing positions this season with 17. Though they may wonder how they fell behind in 13 of their games to start with.

18 – Sundowns had the most different goal-scorers this season with 18. Royal AM were not far behind them with 17.

19 – Sundowns won the most games this season with 19, which is three short of their own record of 22 set in the 2015-16 season.

22 – Incredibly, six of the bottom seven sides scored exactly 22 goals this season. The odd one out was Sekhukhune United with 21!

23 – Peter Shalulile scored an impressive 23 goals in the league this campaign, two short of the 30-game PSL record of Collins Mbesuma. Not a single one of Shalulile’s goals were from the spot.

36 – Sundowns’ +36 goal-difference is a PSL record, beating the +35 they managed in the 2015-16 campaign.

45 – There were 45 goalless draws this season, comfortably the most ever in a PSL campaign, beating the 39 from 2001-02. And back then teams played 34 matches in a season. Cape Town City were the worst offenders this time round with 10, but they still finished second!

46 – Chippa United striker Bienvenu Eva Nga scored the highest ratio of his team’s goals this season. He netted 10 of Chippa’s total of 22 league goals, which is 46 per cent. The next highest was Sundowns’ Peter Shalulile with 39 per cent.

50 – It is the first time in PSL history that the runner-up in the title race has not reached 50 points. Cape Town City finishes second this year with 49. That is enough to qualify them for the CAF Champions League for the first time.

56 – Sundowns’ 56 goals scored is a record for a 30-game PSL season, beating the 55 both they and Kaizer Chiefs had previously managed. Chiefs reached that figure in the 2004-05 season, with Sundowns getting there in 2015-16.