He’s back. You know who. So, too, is a goalscoring goalkeeper and a familiar shutout in a fierce derby. With a free-scoring English forward and German powerhouse also featuring, here’s FIFA.com’slatest stats review.
20
regular-season goals is what Bradley Wright-Phillips became the first player in MLS history to achieve in multiple campaigns. It is a feat that had eluded even the likes of Jeff Cunningham, Landon Donovan, Jaime Moreno, Taylor Twellman and Chris Wondolowski. The son of Arsenal legend Ian Wright, who netted 27 times for New York Red Bulls in 2014 – a joint-single-season record – and 17 last year, went into Sunday's trip to Toronto FC on 18 goals. The 31-year-old’s brace, which included a gorgeous chip, sent him 11 goals clear of Juan Pablo Angel as the club’s all-time leading marksman and Jesse Marsch’s side 3-1 up at BMO Field. A double from Jozy Altidore nevertheless snatched the Reds a draw that ensured the Red Bulls have, depressingly, dropped an MLS-high 18 points from leading positions this term. They can, however, take consolation from the fact they are now unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions.
17
goals in three games is what Borussia Dortmund achieved for just the second time in their 107-year history on Tuesday. The first was in 1982 – a run in which half their goals came from Manni Burgsmuller and one indebted to a club-record 11-1 demolition of Arminia Bielefeld. BVB’s latest sequence owed much less to one player or one result. Six men scored in their 6-0 success at Legia Warsaw and five did when they beat Darmstadt by the same scoreline, while in their 5-1 win at Wolfsburg on Tuesday, Ousmane Dembele and Lukasz Piszczek became the 13th and 14th players to find the target for Dortmund in just their sixth match this season. Meanwhile Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goals at the Volkswagen Arena were his first away from home in the league since February.
11
hours and 13 minutes is what Real Betis have gone without scoring against Sevilla – the worst goal drought in the Seville derby’s 101-year existence. Los Verdiblancos last rippled their arch-enemies’ net in March 2014, when Leo Baptistao and Salva Sevilla earned them a shock 2-0 away win in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League showdown. Jose Antonio Reyes and Carlos Bacca ensured that tie went to a penalty shoot-out, which Los Rojiblancos won, and Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat means Betis haven’t netted in seven full instalments of the fixture. The result left Sevilla second in La Liga. Leaders Real Madrid on Sunday became the second side in history – after Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in 2010/11 – to win 16 consecutive games in the Spanish top flight, though Zinedine Zidane’s side spurned the chance to break the record by drawing 1-1 at home to Villarreal three days later.
8
years after his last goal in the Liga Colombiana, Nelson Ramos repeated the feat – and that was just half of the goalkeeper’s heroic story. ‘The Pianist’ last scored in the league for Deportivo Pasto against La Equidad – a stunning strike that prompted the latter to sign him. With Fortaleza’s already lofty relegation chances heightening as they trailed 2-0 at Cortulua on Sunday, Ramos converted another Jose Luis Chilavert-esque, left-footed free-kick in the 66th minute. Then, in injury time, he delivered a pinpoint cross for Luciano Ospina to head home an equaliser. It made the 34-year-old the first keeper in Colombian top-flight history to record a goal and a direct assist in the same game.
4
goals in his first two Ligue 1 appearances is what Mario Balotelli became the first player in 25 years to score. The 26-year-old Nice forward followed up his debut double in a 3-2 win over Marseille with another brace in a 4-0 defeat of Monaco on Wednesday. The blank left the principality club having failed to score in the French top tier for the first time in 16 outings, while victory in the battle between its hitherto only unbeaten sides elevated Nice above their opponents into first. Balotelli’s 200 per cent goals-to-games ratio this season comes after he managed a mere 0.05 per match in his last 40 league matches for AC Milan and Liverpool.
Quick hits 7 successive Toulouse goals have come from Scandinavians – Dane Martin Braithwaite (4) and Swedish pair Ola Toivonen (2) and Jimmy Durmaz (1).
0 clubs from Ghana’s north – its biggest region – had won its top-tier title until an almighty underdog snapped the trend. Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak had won 43 titles between them, but Wa All Stars, who were only promoted for the first time in 2007 and had never finished higher than sixth, emerged champions.