2022 Set to be the Lowest Scoring Premier Soccer League on Record as Players Lose Their Goalscoring Boots

2022 Set to be the Lowest Scoring Premier Soccer League on Record as Players Lose Their Goalscoring Boots

Keba Mothoagae
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:02 PM
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  • Unless a flurry of goals comes from somewhere, this season's DStv Premiership season will be the lowest on record
  • With just 10 league matches to go, 42 goals will need to be scored to get past the lowest tally of strikes in over a decade
  • This is during a campaign that already produced another unwanted record of the most goalless draws since the advent of the Premier Soccer League

A brutal reminder that South African football is short of goalscorers is on the cards as the 2021-22 DStv Premiership season draws to a close.

Mamelodi Sundowns has already proven that it is a "farmers league", having wrapped up the league title recently, their fifth on the bounce. On top of this, this is already the season with the most goalless draws since the Premier Soccer League was established in 1996.

collins mbesuma, peter shalulile, kaizer chiefs, mamelodi sundowns, psl, premier soccer league, dstv premiership
Peter Shalulile chasing Collins Mbesuma's league goals record has been the only highlight upfront this season.
Source: UGC

However, the worst is yet to come, with this campaign destined to have the least goals scored since that momentous year. In 220 matches played thus far, 448 goals have been scored at a pitiful 2.04 per game.

The season with the least amount of total goals was the 2009-10 Absa Premiership which SuperSport won, when 499 strikes beat goalkeepers across the land at 2.08 goals per match. With 10 matches remaining this term, 51 goals will have to be scored at an unlikely average of 5.1 to get past this paltry tally.

Ironically, the low rate of scoring is happening during a campaign where Mamelodi Sundown's Peter Shalulile became the first player in 10 seasons to score 20 or more goals for his team. The Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot shoo-in is a hat-trick away from equalling former Kaizer Chiefs legend Collins Mbesuma's record of 25 league goals in the 2004/05 season.

The Brazilians will take on Royal AM on Saturday afternoon in the final round of fixtures, Shalulile's last chance to have a go at Mbesuma's milestone.

Chippa United and Cape Town City goalless draw makes unwanted and unflattering Premier Soccer League history

The DStv Premiership has proven itself as a league of goal shyness judging by an unflattering record that was "broken".

As reported on Sports Brief, the 0-0 result between Chippa United and Cape Town City last night was a record 40th goalless draw of the season.

This was one more than the previous high of 39 in the 2001/02 Castle Premiership as it was known then.

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