Sundaymail Editor
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
CAPS United striker William Manondo needs to score five goals in as many remaining matches of the season to achieve a target that has eluded local strikers for 12 years.
Since Norman Maroto scored 22 goals for Gunners in 2010, no Premier Soccer League player has breached the 20-goal mark.
The 31-year-old Manondo leads the 2021/2022 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Golden Boot race with 15 goals, four clear of second-placed Brian Muza of Chicken Inn.
He could add to his tally this afternoon, when CAPS United visit Cranborne Bullets at Vengere Stadium.
Unfortunately for Muza, he is a huge doubt for Chicken Inn’s Bulawayo derby clash against Highlanders at Barbourfields.
Manondo needs seven goals to match Maroto’s record. Nelson Maziwisa and Tendai Ndoro — then with Shabanie Mine and Chicken Inn, respectively — came close with 18 goals each in 2012 and 2013 in that order.
Zambian Chewe Mulenga, who banged 24 goals for Railstars in 2000, still holds the record since the turn of the millennium.
Mulenga and Maroto’s records are not the only milestones that have stood the test of time.
There are a number of records that have been set and shattered since 1993, when the late former Dynamos chairperson Morrison Sifelani, ex-Black Rhinos secretary Chris Sibanda and Darryn T’s Wieslaw Grabowski led the formation of the Premier Soccer League as a breakaway from ZIFA’s direct control.
DeMbare still hold the record of the most goals scored in a season — a whopping 79 in 1996, when they were runners-up to CAPS United.
On average, Dynamos scored 2.6 goals per game in that historic season.
That DeMbare side had prolific forwards who included Tauya “Doctor” Murewa, Claudius “Hokoyo” Zviripayi, Simon Chuma and Hope “Zviyo” Chihota.
Sadly, goals are now a rarity in the PSL, especially since 2010. Dynamos’ 58 goals in 2012 remain the highest tally since 2010.
It was even worse in 2014, when runners-up ZPC Kariba were the top scorers with a paltry 42 goals in 30 matches, a rate of 1.4 goals per match.
Makepekepe still sit on top when it comes to the highest number of points garnered in a season.
A CAPS United juggernaut under the guidance of Charles Mhlauri raked in a massive 79 points in 2004, in a season in which they lost only once (a defeat to Highlanders).
FC Platinum, who led the log standings with 64 points after Match Day 29, could match that tally if they win their remaining five matches.
However, it will need a miracle for Pure Platinum Play, who scored 44 goals after Match Day 29, to match or break DeMbare’s record of 79 goals.
In a season that he has emerged from the shadows to become the most talked-about goalkeeper, FC Platinum shot-stopper Wallace Magalane, who has 13 clean sheets in 16 matches, has a fair chance of becoming only the third keeper to win the Soccer Star of the Year gong since the inception of the top-flight league.
At some point, Magalane went for 10 consecutive league games without picking up the ball from his net.
DeMbare’s Taimon Mvula, with 16 clean sheets in the league, is another goalminder who could have a shout for the award.
Energy Murambadoro, who was on the CAPS United books in 2003, and Dynamos’ Washington Arubi (2011) are the only goalkeepers to win the coveted award since 1993.
While FC Platinum have had the best defence since 2016 – conceding 15 in 2016, 15 in 2017, 14 in 2018 and 15 in 2019 – Dynamos still rule the roost when it comes to stuffing the goal into their pockets.
DeMbare shipped in only 13 goals in 2010 under the tutelage of coach Elvis “Chuchu” Chiweshe.
Former Warriors star Guthrie Zhokinyu marshalled the mean Dynamos defence.
On the contrary, the now defunct Gweru United still hold the record of the most goals conceded in a season.
They let in an incredible 94 goals in 1997, at a rate of 3.1 per match.
Bantu Rovers, with 73 goals conceded in 2017, and Tongogara, with 72 goals conceded in 1996, are some of the teams that have had atrocious defensive records in the PSL.
WhaWha arrive in the capital today to face Dynamos with the worst defence in the league so far, having conceded 52 goals in 29 matches.
However, they are not likely to break Gweru United’s 28-year record.
Overall, no team has gone for an entire season without tasting defeat since 1993.
The pair of CAPS United and Highlanders fell just one game short of that achievement in 2004 and 2012, when they seemed poised to end their campaigns unbeaten.
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