Sundowns still on course for a number of new records

Mamelodi Sundowns have one foot in the semifinals of the CAF Champions League, but turn their focus back to domestic matters when they host Richards Bay in the DStv Premiership on Tuesday.

It looks a home banker with Richards Bay having ended an eight-game losing streak at the weekend by drawing 1-1 at bottom side Maritzburg United, though Sundowns will be tempted to rest their top stars with the league title already long sewn up.

They have the second leg of their Champions League semifinal against CR Belouizdad at the weekend and while they hold a 4-1 advantage from the first game, will not want to leave anything to chance.

Here is a list of records the club, and a few of its players, have broken or could yet better in this remarkable 2022/23 campaign.

MOST TITLE WINS IN A ROW AND MOST OVERALL

This year’s championship is a sixth in succession for all-conquering Sundowns and their 16th overall, both South African football records. The fact that they won the title with seven games remaining in the season is also the earliest any side has achieved the championship victory. The bad news for rivals is that they show no signs of being toppled any time soon. Their 16 league titles is three more than next on the list, Kaizer Chiefs, and we perhaps have to start having conversations about which is the greatest South African club of all time.

MOST POINTS IN A 30-GAME SEASON

Four draws in their last five league games have dented their hunt for this record but if they do win their final four games of the campaign they will end up on 74 points. That would beat their own 30-game record of 71 set in 2015/16 but be short of their 34-game mark of 75 that they jointly hold with Chiefs. The latter had been well within their sights before their recent wobbles.

MOST WINS IN A SEASON

In the PSL era overall, this mark is 23 held by Sundowns, Chiefs and Manning Rangers, while in a 30-game season The Brazilians hold the record with 22, also set in 2015/16. They have 19 from their 26 games so far this season, so can only match that PSL-era mark. But if they win their final four games will be the 30-game season record.

MOST HOME WINS IN A 30-GAME SEASON

Sundowns have won 11 of their 13 home games so far this campaign, so remain on course to beat a mark they jointly hold. The record for a 30-game PSL campaign is 12 home wins, achieved by BidVest Wits (2016/17), Sundowns (2015/16) and Ajax Cape Town (2010/11). The current team have games on their own patch against Richards Bay and Maritzburg United to go, two strugglers, and if they win those will set a new best mark of 13 home wins.

MOST GOALS IN A SEASON

The overall PSL record is out of reach with Chiefs the current holders with the 73 goals they scored in 34 games in the 1998/99 season. The top mark in a 30-game campaign is the 56 Sundowns netted last season, which they at one stage looked odds-on to beat this season. That now seems a tall order though as they have 46 goals in 26 games so far. They would need to score another 11 in their final four matches (a little under three per game) to set a new mark. Certainly achievable for this side, even if the goals have rather dried up of late with just one in their previous three matches.

FEWEST GOALS CONCEDED IN A SEASON

The current mark is a paltry 11 goals conceded by Kaizer Chiefs in the 2003/04 season as they won the league and this record is hanging by a thread for Sundowns. The Brazilians have let in 10 goals in their 26 games, meaning they cannot concede in their final four if they are to set a new low. That being said, they did go through a run of seven successive clean sheets earlier this season.

MOST CLEAN SHEETS IN A SEASON

The current best mark is 21 held by Chiefs in 2003/04 and Sundowns have kept 17 in their 26 games to date. They would need clean sheets in all four remaining matches to match that best mark. However, the top mark for a goalkeeper is the 17 clean sheets from Moeneeb Josephs for Orlando Pirates in 2009/10. Sundowns keeper Ronwen Williams already has 16 and would need two from the remaining four matches to set a new best mark. That looks achievable. He has already set a new club record. The previous best mark for Sundowns was the 15 clean sheets (from 25 appearances) by Denis Onyango in 2020/21.

BEST GOAL-DIFFERENCE

Sundowns set a new mark for best goal-difference last season with +36 and currently sit on that same number, so remain on course to beat that. It seems inconceivable they will not be at least +1 in their final four league games, so they will more than likely go well beyond their current best mark.

BIGGEST TITLE WINNING MARGIN

Sundowns currently hold this record having romped to a 16-point league title win last season, but are set to better that this time round of they can get back to winning ways. They currently hold an unassailable 15-point lead in the championship, though behind them Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United have built up a head of steam. If they can widen that gap by two points they will set a new best mark.

TON-UP FOR SHALULILE

Sundowns striker Peter Shalulile scored a brace in the first leg against Belouizdad on Saturday which took him to 100 goals for South African topflight teams, having also played previously for Highlands Park. The Namibia international reached the mark in only 197 games, which is the quickest anyone has got to three figures in the past.

MOST DECORATED PLAYER

The Sundowns goalkeeper has now claimed 10 league titles in South Africa, a record and one that will take some beating. The first three of those came in the colours of SuperSport United, before winning seven with Sundowns, including in the last six seasons. He might have had one more too but was sent on loan to BidVest Wits when Sundowns won the league championship in the 2013/14 campaign. Next on the list of players with the most league winners’ medals is Hlompho Kekana, who left Sundowns in 2021 after his eighth. He won two at SuperSport and six with Sundowns.