Friday 29 September 2017, 06:32

The Week in Numbers

  • OGs, GD and the D.C.


A Cafetero cannonball in the YRD**


Spaniards sizzling in ‘The Big Smoke’**

36 yards is the distance from which Shanghai Shenhua’s Fredy Guarin rocketed home a free-kick on his first start after returning from injury. Fellow Colombian Giovanni Moreno then scored twice to help Shanghai beat Guangzhou R&F and end a seven-match winless run during which they had conceded 20 goals and scored just three.

31 minutes is all it took DC United’s Patrick Mullins to score the fastest four goals in MLS history. Colombian Diego Serna had held the record for his 38-minute quartet for Miami Fusion in 2000. Mullins didn’t break the deadlock against San Jose Earthquakes – and his 16-game goalless streak – until the 57th minute, but nevertheless became only the ninth player to net more than thrice in an MLS match.

21 matches: that is the unbeaten run Montagua lost – despite being three goals up with merely 25 minutes remaining against a team that had won just twice in 21 outings. The dramatic 4-3 upset elevated Platense from the bottom of the Honduran Liga.

20 goals in his last 19 appearances is, incredibly, what Dario Benedetto has scored after his brace propelled Boca Juniors to a 4-0 win away to Velez Sarsfield, who began the game having not conceded in eight and a half hours. It has been 13 months since Los Xeneizes lost on their travels in the Primera Division.

18 is the stunning goal difference Borussia Dortmund have accumulated in the first six rounds of the Bundesliga – a club record and double Bayern Munich’s (+9). Pierre Emerick Aubameyang has scored eight of their 19 goals, including three in 17 minutes in the 6-1 thumping of Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.

10 goals from Spanish players is what just one top-tier team has scored this season – not Atletico Madrid, Barcelona or Real Madrid, but Chelsea! Alvaro Morata (6 goals), Marcos Alonso (2), Cesc Fabregas (1) and Pedro (1) have posted all but two of the Blues’ Premier League goals this term.

7 goals away from home in the Eredivisie is what PSV scored for the first time in 28 years. Four goals from their 23-year-old forward helped PSV batter Utrecht 7-1 at the Stadion Galgenwaard in 1989, and four goals from their 23-year-old forward helped PSV batter Utrecht 7-1 at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday. The aforementioned sharpshooters were Romario and Jurgen Locadia, who hit his first hat-trick since his league debut in 2012.

4 successive UEFA Champions Leagues halves have involved Feyenoord conceding with the first shot they’ve faced. John Stones netted with Manchester City’s first attempt in each period on Matchday 1 (second and 63rd minutes), while Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens did likewise with Napoli’s on Matchday 2 (seventh and 49th).

4 own-goals is what Barcelona have benefitted from this season – double more than any other of their players, except Lionel Messi, has scored.

2 goals in his first league start for Real Madrid is what Dani Ceballos became the first player this century to score. Cristiano Ronaldo, by contrast, has attempted 18 shots in La Liga this season – the most any player has without netting in the competition.