The most exciting PSL season in years reaches the penultimate round tomorrow, with all matches kicking off at the same time because, unlike in previous years, there’s a lot still to be decided.
For the first time in nine seasons, Mamelodi Sundowns look set to be deposed as champions, mainly due to their defeat to TS Galaxy this week, which opened the door wide for Orlando Pirates to snatch their first championship since 2012.
A different team winning the league shows how competitive this season has been after we were subjected to a sequence of predictable, monotonous finishes in the past five years.
This year is the first time since the 2019/20 season, when Sundowns pipped Kaizer Chiefs on the final day, that we have the title race not decided at this stage of the season.
Last year, Sundowns won it with about four games to go. The previous season, they did it by amassing 23 more points than Pirates, who had finished second.
As they host Durban City at Orlando tomorrow, Pirates will be relishing the possibility of reclaiming the title they last won under the now almost forgotten Augusto Palacios 14 years ago.
Pirates’ resilience in mounting a meaningful challenge should be applauded. The base to contest for the big prize was laid by the previous coach, Jose Riveiro, who turned them into domestic cup kings. They are now about to win the biggest of all, a due reward for their transformation as an attacking force under Abdeslam Ouaddou.
Pirates have now already accumulated their club record points and goals in a season – an indication they stepped up to the challenge of catching up with the high bar Sundowns had set.
Overall, we were impressed with how other teams also came to the party to make this a competitive season. Chiefs are assured of a return to CAF football next season after finishing third, a massive improvement from the disaster of the past two years, when they couldn’t even make the top eight.
Generally, the season was bereft of the off-field drama of past years – no one can forget the chaos bred by the expulsion of Royal AM last year – but there’s still room for improvement.
We wish all teams good luck as they look to wrap up the season in the next two weekends and take a deserved rest as we all await next month’s World Cup.
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