The 2024/25 PSL season could be one of the worst returns when it comes to hat-tricks, after Orlando Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa became the first player to score three goals in one match in a 8-1 mauling of Marumo Gallants.
With PSL top goal-scorers struggling to reach 20 goals in a season, scoring hat-tricks has also become a rarity in the League.
However, even including cup tournaments, the current campaign could turn out to be one of the least in terms of hat-tricks, as no one scored a hat-trick in the MTN8 and Carling Knockouts, with Mabasa's hat-trick only coming midway into the season.
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The lack of scoring in the League is also shown by the fact that there were only three hat-tricks scored in the Premiership last season. The first player to take home the match-ball last term was Augustine Kwem, in a 3-1 victory over Golden Arrows in November 2023.
Kwem was followed by Mamelodi Sundowns forward Lucas Ribeiro Costa, who scored all the goals in a 3-0 win over AmaZulu in February 2024.
Abafana Bes'thende were again at the wrong end of another hat-trick, after Mabasa had a three-goal haul for Pirates in a 7-1 hammering two months later.
Including cup competitions, the 2023/24 PSL campaign was the second-highest tally of hat-tricks since the 2015/16 season (where there were eight hat-tricks in all competitions), as there were a further three hat-tricks, taking the total to six in all tournaments.
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The Buccaneers forward Zakhele Lepasa opened the floodgates of hat-tricks, after scoring three times in a 5-0 win over Sekhukhune United in the MTN8 quarter-finals in August 2023.
Junior Dion also scored all the goals for Usuthu as they thrashed Arrows 3-0 in the Carling Knockout quarter-finals in November 2023.
Former Mamelodi Sundowns attacker Gaston Sirino also took home a match-ball in February 2024 after scoring thrice in a 6-1 hammering of second-tier side La Masia in the first round of the Nedbank Cup.
The 1998/99 season remains the highest tally of hat-tricks, with 15 scored while the least is the 2017/18 campaign, where there were no hat-tricks scored.
