PIC: Shandre Campbell of SuperSport United

The Last 32 of the Nedbank Cup threw up plenty of thrills and spills, and no shortage of drama, as the campaign kicked off in style.
We look back at the numbers that make up the opening round of this year’s competition.

2 – There were two own goals in the Last 32 – Adam Khumalo for Crystal Lake against Orlando Pirates and Solomon Letsoenyo for TS Galaxy against Lamontville Golden Arrows.

3 – Gaston Sirino leads the scoring stakes after his hattrick for Mamelodi Sundowns against second-tier NB la Masia in a 6-1 victory for the Chloorkop side. The only other players to score more than once were Thulani Gumede (Richards Bay) and Tapelo Xoki (Orlando Pirates).

4 – The quickest goal of the Last 32 came inside four minutes when the unfortunate Adam Khumalo put the ball into his own net for Crystal Lake against Orlando Pirates.

6 – Orlando Pirates secured the biggest win of the Last 32 in their 6-0 success against fourth-tier Mpumalanga side Crystal Lake at the Mbombela Stadium. It was The Buccaneers’ biggest victory in the Nedbank Cup since the competition was first played in its current guise in 2008, but short of their all-time record of 9-1 against Olympics in 1999.

6 – Six of the Last 32 ties went to penalties, a record for this stage of the competition. That includes a shootout win for second-tier Milford FC over Kaizer Chiefs. In the six shootouts, there were three wins for the home side and three for the away team. 

7 – The game that featured the most goals in the Last 32 was the 6-1 win for Mamelodi Sundowns against second-tier NB La Masia. It was a 19^th win in a row for The Brazilians against lower league opponents in the Nedbank Cup.

7 – Kaizer Chiefs were dumped out by lower league opponents for the seventh time since 2008 when they lost on penalties to Milford, comfortably the most of any topflight club. Next on the lost is Lamontville Golden Arrows and Chippa United, who have been beaten four times. Their rivals Orlando Pirates (1) and Mamelodi Sundowns (0) have not suffered anywhere near the same fate.

10 – Ten of the 16 DStv Premiership clubs made it through to the Last 16. They will be joined by four sides from the Motsepe Foundation Championship and two from the ABC Motsepe League.

10 – Ten of the 32 teams failed to get on the scoresheet, including most notably Kaizer Chiefs, who missed a penalty in their loss to Milford FC. 

15 – Mamelodi Sundowns have now advanced from the Last 32 in 15 of the 17 seasons of the Nedbank Cup, the best record of any club. Their only early exits came in 2011 versus Orlando Pirates (0-1) and 2019 against Chippa United (1-2). 

18 – SuperSport United forward Shandre Campbell was the youngest scorer in the Last 32, netting against Cape Town City at the age of 18 years, seven months and five days. He was doing his Matric during last year’s tournament!

39 – Highlands Park goalkeeper Tapuwa Kapini was the oldest player used in the Last 32, featuring against Sekhukhune United at the age of 39 years, seven months and four days. He is also the goalkeeper coach at the ABC Motsepe League side. 

40 – There were 40 goals scored in the 16 matches in the Last 32, an average of 2.50 per game. There were a lot of very tight ties this year, with only six of the 16 fixtures seeing more than two goals scored. Conversely, only two games failed to see a goal.

122 – The latest goal scored in the Last 32 was Emilio Abreu’s 122^nd minute equaliser for Highlands Park against Sekhukhune United. The third-tier side lost in the shootout. It makes it one of the latest goals ever scored in the competition.