OptaJabu Newsletter #13: 2024MTN8 Quarter-Final Review
The rest of the details from our MTN8 posts
Over the weekend, we shared stats as the MTN8 games that were played on social media. Like every stat, there are always follow up questions. For example, if a player is the 5th to a particular milestone, the regular question we get is “Who were the other four”?. Every other stat has follow up potential. In an effort to regularise our newsletter this season, we’re planning to make the newsletter more of a Monday thing - where the rest of the details from the headlines are covered in details. Key word: Planning. Please bear with us.
Over to the top posts from this weekned..
The Cooking Spaniard
Guess what, we actually had a Spanish Christmas in Cape Town five years ago. We have a friend who’s a chef, and he spoiled us with seafood paella on 25 December 2019. It’s something the Spanish eat, and we had a good time. Here’s the proof haha…(think the boxes were to protect the gas from the wind):
Onto the point...
78% – Jose Riveiro has overseen 25 Cup games at Orlando Pirates (P25 W19 D4 L2). His 78% win rate in Cups is the best of any Pirates coach to oversee more than five Cup games. Just clocked that this is league winning form.
However, his league win rate is only 50% (P60 W30 D14 L16), and there will be hope among Pirates fans that can inch closer to the Cup %.
50 Cup Goals for Jose’s Bucks
What we didn’t add on socials over the weekend was that the goals on the weekend were Goals Number 49, 50 and 51 for Pirates in Cup competitions under the Spaniard. He’s only the third Orlando Pirates coach in PSL history to reach 50 goals in Cup competitions, after Viktor Bondarenko (50) and Eric Tinkler (53 ).
A hoodoo broken:
1 - José Riveiro is the first Orlando Pirates coach to oversee a Cup victory over SuperSport United since Vladimir Vermezovic, who beat Matsatsantsa in this competition, at this stage, 10 years ago this weekend (2 August 2014).
If anyone noticed, we had said Kjell Jonevret was the last coach to do so, but that was obviously a mistake (this type of thing happens when you tweet in a rush with beer in your head hand. Hand. Hand. Esandleni). Whooah.
On Monnapule Saleng:
If Riveiro is a Cup specialist, then his commander-in-chief on Saturday is a MTN8 specialist. The stat we shared was that Saleng is the first player in Orlando Pirates’ PSL history to score in the Top 8 for three consecutive seasons (2022/23, 2023/24, and now 2024/25).
We dug a bit on the rest of the PSL (beyond Pirates), and found that:
4 - Only Daine Kalte (four seasons in a row from 2013/14 to 2016/17) has scored in more consecutive Top 8 editions than Saleng.
Bradley Grobler also did three in a row until 2020/21. In Orlando Pirates’ PSL history, no player has scored more goals in the Top8 than Saleng (5, level with Zakhele Lepasa).
On Olisa Ndah
6 - Olisa Ndah is the sixth Nigerian player to score a goal for Orlando Pirates in the PSL era, and the first since Onyekachi Okwonkwo against TP Mazembe in April 2013.
Here are the other five: Nwaokorie Christian, Okwonkwo Onyekachi, Opara Sonny, Otorogu Ezenwa, Pam Sam. (Yeah it’s Surname - Name in the database).
And one more on Saleng:
5 - Saleng completed five dribbles v SuperSport, more than any other player in their quarter-final. His five successful dribbles were as many as all the other Pirates players combined.
Yet, he wasn’t the most ambitious dribbler on the weekend - that honour goes to TS Galaxy’s Kamogelo Sebelebele (8 attempts), whose magic we witnessed in the flesh (and cold) at Dabie Craven.
Most dribbles completed in the MTN8 this weekend:
5 - Monnapule Saleng, Kamogelo Sebelebele
3 - Lebone Seema, Marks Munyai, Devin Titus
A note on Stellenbosch FC
Yes, this newsletter is not just about the “three kings”. Let’s talk a bit about Stellies.
5/5 - Stellies have reached at least the semi-final stage in each of their last five domestic Cup competitions, and are the only PSL side with a 100% semi-final record since the start of 2023.
We’ll try and calculate if that’s a PSL record, but that’s unlikely. Worth a check, who knows?
SuperSport used to be Cup Kings. What’s happening?
4 - Matsatsantsa has been knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the MTN8 in each of the last four editions.
Check this out - in MTN8 24 quarter-finals, SuperSport have only kept clean sheets on three occassions (2002 v Wits, 2017 v Chiefs and 2019 v Wits)
Ramovic’s struggle against Barker
0/8 – Sead Ramovic is still yet to win a game against Steve Barker, drawing twice and losing the other six games in their eight meetings.
It’s the most game he’s played against a single coach.
It’s the longest he’s gone before beating a single opponent
Next time Coach Sead…