Mamelodi Sundowns may not have played a league game this weekend, but despite their absence, they inched even closer to wrapping up the DStv Premiership title.
While the defending champions were in far-flung Sudan, taking on Al Hilal in the CAF Champions League, the pendulum swung in their favour.
Before the weekend fixtures, the Brazilians essentially needed two wins to put the 2022/23 title beyond SuperSport’s reach.
HOW MAMELODI SUNDOWNS CAN WRAP UP THE TITLE
However, SuperSport, who are second, slipped to Orlando Pirates when they lost 1-0, changing the permutations altogether.
A Tapelo Xoki well-struck penalty was enough to steal all three points from Matsatsantsa.
With seven games to go before the curtain comes down on the current season, Sundowns are on 59 points while SuperSport remained on 39.
Mathematically, if Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport win all their remaining games, they can get to 60 points.
Third and fourth-placed Orlando Pirates and Kaizer, both on 37 points, are already out of the equation as they can only get to 58 points if they win all their remaining games.
It means Sundowns could wrap up the title when they face Cape Town City on 1 April at Loftus Versfeld in their next league encounter.
A set of maximum points would put them on 62 points, beyond the reach of Matsatsantsa.
NEW RECORD IN SIGHT
Even a draw against City would take them to 60 points, meaning SuperSport [who have a +9 goal difference now] would have to win all their last seven games by big margins, and Sundowns [+36 now] lose all theirs for the Brazilians to lose the title.
A win, however, would write a new record for the earliest title win. That would be a game better than the previous record of 25. In the 2021/22 season, they came close to breaking the record set by themselves in the 2006/07 season. But they fell a game short when they bagged the coveted title after 26 matches.
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