News24.com | Brazilians v history: Sundowns bag earliest-ever PSL title, five records still there for the taking

Peter Shalulile (Photo by Gallo Images)

• Sundowns added two more records to their name on Saturday after officially being crowned league champions.
• The Brazilians did not have to play a PSL match to be determined Premiership winners after SuperSport United were held to a draw by Chippa United.
• Sundowns can break a further five records before the season ends next month.

Mamelodi Sundowns were crowned DStv Premiership champions for a sixth consecutive season, doing so without having to kick a ball in the league over the weekend.

It was a day where all the necessary permutations kicked in on the South African football league front, while the Brazilians took care of CAF Champions League business when they entertained Coton Sport in their final Group B match, defeating the Cameroonian club 2-1.

The Tshwane giants had already qualified for the quarter-finals of Africa's premier club competition.

Three-and-a-half hours before their continental clash at Loftus Versfeld, their Tshwane neighbours and rivals, SuperSport United, came face-to-face against Chippa United.

Going into their match, SuperSport were stationed in second place on the league standings and victory over the Chilli Boys was the only way to delay the inevitable winning of the league for the Brazilians.

It was never a matter of "will Sundowns win the league?", but rather when Sundowns would win the league.

The latter was made official on Saturday when Chippa held SuperSport to a 1-1 draw in the Eastern Cape, causing Gavin Hunt's charges to drop to third on the log with an inferior goal difference to Orlando Pirates in second.

The teams to finish in the top two qualify for the CAF Champions League next year.

Not only did runaway leaders Sundowns win the league for a record sixth consecutive season (13 league titles in the PSL era), but they dashed off another record by winning the Premiership within 23 matches, the earliest-ever league title win.

By defeating Coton Sport, Sundowns finished their Champions League group stages unbeaten.

"It was a bit difficult because we live in such a digital and social media space, and whether you like it or not, the players will know," Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena told reporters after the game.

"My speech to them before the game was, 'Congratulations, because you guys know about it, but now you've got [a game]’.

"And really, it's something they need to be congratulated for. Sometimes in South Africa, it's downplayed, and maybe we are victims of our own success where people undermine the difficulties of winning the Premier League.

"The league title is the hardest to win in any country. You've got to play against 15 opponents home and away, and the competition lasts eight or nine months. There's no other competition any team competes in that lasts as long.

"Sometimes - maybe because of the way it may be perceived, people start to think it looks easy - that's actually the most difficult."

With seven league matches remaining and the league title already in the bag, there are more records the Brazilians can keep themselves motivated with.

What remains to be seen is whether or not Sundowns will drop their standards when those league matches come around in an already busy season for the club.

In a campaign riddled with matches all over the calendar, it's important for Sundowns to remain focused.

The club would want to attain the treble as they look to add the Nedbank Cup and Champions League winners' medals to their league triumph.

One way to do so is to add more objectives for the players to keep in their sights. There are still five records that Sundowns are on track for taking before the end of the season.

Sundowns' remaining matches are: Cape Town City (4 April), Swallows (9 April), Golden Arrows (22 April), Richards Bay (29 April), AmaZulu (3 May), Gallants (10 May) and Maritzburg (20 May)

*Note: Dates may change due to Sundowns' participation in the CAF Champions League and Nedbank Cup.