Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster returned to the scoresheet for Burnley in the Premier League, and in doing so, joins an exclusive list that includes just five South African players.
Foster scored the third of Burnley’s four goals as The Clarets hammered Sheffield United 4-1 on Saturday at Bramall Lane.
It was a first win in five matches for Victor Kompany’s side and could prove crucial in the relegation battle, having stretched the gap between them and bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United up to seven points.
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For Foster, the goal was the first of the 2024 calendar year and the first time he has found the net since December 2023. It was also a fifth Premier League goal – catapulting the 23-year-striker into an elite list of South African stars who have scored five goals in one of the most competitive leagues in the world.
However, Foster is still far off current Manchester United striker coach, Benni McCarthy, who leads the list with 37 goals to his name during his spells with West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers respectively.
Behind McCarthy is Bafana legend Shaun Bartlett, who netted 24 times during his time with Charlton Athletic – scoring two more than retired Bafana captain Steven Pienaar, who donned the colours of Everton, Tottenham Hotspurs and Sunderland.
Foster is currently level with Phil Masinga and Quinton Fortune, who scored five during their respective spells with Leeds United and Manchester United.
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The fifth goal is one more than the four scored by Mark Fish and three more than Eric Tinkler’s Premier League goals.
Foster’s return to form will also not have gone unnoticed by Bafana head coach Broos, who is eyeing the striker for crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria in June.
"I saw he (Foster) played, I think, 10 minutes on Saturday, so that means his injury problems are over," Broos said in March.
"I will try to have contact in the next days and weeks with Kompany and maybe I can go [to the UK] when I am in Belgium, to see a game of Burnley and talk to Foster and Kompany and see what we can expect from him for the future, certainly looking at the games in June."
In the meantime, Foster will be aiming to continue his scoring form when Burnley take on vulnerable Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
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