Golden Shoe 2014-15: Updated Standings, Top Goalscorers in Europe on March 23

Cristiano Ronaldo has moved to within one goal of Lionel Messi in the race for this year's Golden Shoe award, but after the latest round of fixtures, Harry Kane's hat-trick put him among the best of the rest.

In fact, the Tottenham striker is now tied for third with Chelsea's Diego Costa and Eintracht Frankfurt's Alexander Meier after his terrific treble helped Spurs overcome Leicester 4-3 in the Premier League. Here are the latest stats, updated from last week's standings written by Jamie Rainbow of WorldSoccer.com:

Position	Player	Club	Goals x Factor	Points
1	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	32 x 2	64
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	31 x 2	62
=3	Alexander Meier	Eintracht Frankfurt	19 x 2	38
=3	Diego Costa	Chelsea	19 x 2	38
=3	Harry Kane	Tottenham	19 x 2	38
6	Evgeni Kabaev	Sillamae Kalev	36 x 1	36
=7	Alexandre Lacazette	Lyon	23 x 1.5	34.5
=7	Jonathan Soriano	Red Bull Salzburg	23 x 1.5	34.5
=9	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City	17 x 2	34
=9	Jackson Martinez	Porto	17 x 2	34
=9	Neymar	Barcelona	17 x 2	34

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

As ever, the Golden Shoe calculations multiply goals scored by the difficulty of the league. The table above underlines the higher-ranking divisions—the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and others—while assessing lesser values to others.

Kane's hat-trick made him the big mover of the week. He was previously ranked joint 12th alongside Sevilla's Carlos Bacca and Igor Subbotin, who scored his season's goals while playing for Estonian team Levadia Tallinn, before moving to Czech outfit FK Mlada Boleslav.

Spurs fans have watched Kane burst onto the scene as a hard-working central-attacking figure for the club. One of his greatest attributes is his clinical approach in various situations. He scores tap-ins, headers, first-time strikes and those which come after an excellent darting run, making the most of opportunities which fall his way.

Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Considering he was exclusively a Europa League player for Spurs at the start of the season, Kane has performed sensationally to be ranked alongside experienced goalscorers such as Costa and Meier. OptaJoe highlighted Kane's immense run of form:

The 21-year-old received an England call-up last week to coincide with his excellent form. Needless to say, Kane has had an enjoyable few days:

Elsewhere, Ronaldo is just two behind Messi's leading total of 64 points after netting in El Clasico. Real Madrid lost 2-1 to their bitter Barcelona rivals, but the Portuguese icon kept his personal hopes for the trophy alive. He pushed the ball beyond Claudio Bravo after a stunning backheel from Karim Benzema to add another two points to his total, per Footy Vines:

Red Bull Salzburg's Jonathan Soriano enjoyed another successful week, grabbing a brace during the Austrian side's 3-2 defeat to Wolfsberger AC on Saturday. He joins Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette in seventh place with 34.5 points to keep his name among the continent's most prolific.

Soriano has performed admirably well to sit ahead of Sergio Aguero, Arjen Robben and Neymar, enjoying an excellent run of form since heading to Salzburg in 2012.

His quality can be seen below:

While it seems the Golden Shoe will either end up in the hands of Messi or Ronaldo, an intriguing battle is taking shape below. Costa has a game in hand over Kane and Meier, but he could be set for a spell on the sidelines due to injury, according to BBC Sport.

The international break is on the horizon, however, so movement will freeze for a couple of weeks. Costa will be hoping to recover in this time, while Kane is likely to make his Three Lions debut. Such events could shape the race for third across the remainder of the season.