Golden Shoe 2016-17: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Updated Points on Dec. 5

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang extended his lead in the race for the European Golden Shoe to five points as he netted a brace for Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

Yevgeni Kabayev of Estonian outfit Kalev remains second with 25 points, while Mauro Icardi and Alexis Sanchez made meaningful gains over the last week with a brace and a hat-trick leaving them joint-third and joint-seventh with 24 and 22 points, respectively.

Here are the current standings:

Position	Player	Team	Goals x Factor	Points
1	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Borussia Dortmund	15 x 2.0	30.0
2	Yevgeni Kabayev	Kalev	25 x 1.0	25.0
T3	Anthony Modeste	Cologne	12 x 2.0	24.0
T3	Edin Dzeko	Roma	12 x 2.0	24.0
T3	Mauro Icardi	Inter Milan	12 x 2.0	24.0
6	Vitali Rodionov	BATE Borisov	15 x 1.5	22.5
T7	Gerard Gohou	FC Kairat	22 x 1.0	22.0
T7	Diego Costa	Chelsea	11 x 2.0	22.0
T7	Alexis Sanchez	Arsenal	11 x 2.0	22.0
T10	Edinson Cavani	Paris Saint-Germain	14 x 1.5	21.0

Each European league has its own difficulty constant between one and two—for example the Premier League's is two, Ligue 1's is 1.5—and that is multiplied by a player's goal tally to achieve their points.

Aubameyang's goals are doubled to reach his tally as they are scored in the Bundesliga—which also has a constant of two—while each of Kabayev's goals are worth a single point as they are netted in the Estonian Meistriliiga.

Aubameyang Extends Lead

The Gabon international bagged his first against Borussia Monchengladbach—just one minute after Raffael had given the visiting Foals the lead—when he swept home Marco Reus' flick with a first-time effort to the near post.

Aubameyang rounded out the scoring in the 4-1 win when he finished off a neat team move, with Reus the architect yet again.

ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko was in awe of the latter effort:

Aubameyang has now racked up eight goals in his last four Bundesliga games and has opened up some breathing room in both the race for the Golden Shoe and to be the top scorer in the German top flight.

Per the Bundesliga's official Twitter feed, the 27-year-old is hoping to continue adding to his impressive tally:

Before the winter break, BVB face Cologne, Hoffenheim and Augsburg, all of whom have been relatively robust defensively this season.

Nevertheless, Dortmund have won their last six games in all competitions, and with Aubameyang firing on all cylinders, there's an excellent chance he'll add to his tally in the coming weeks.

Sanchez Climbs into the Top 10

After providing an excellent assist for Mesut Ozil's opener for Arsenal against West Ham United, Sanchez netted his first when he rolled Arthur Masuaku before advancing on goal from the right and firing home from a tight angle.

His second saw him pick out the bottom corner from the edge of the area, and he capped off a wonderful display with a delightful chip after being put through by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to make it 5-1.

Bleacher Report UK's James McNicholas hailed his incredible efforts:

OptaJoe added further context to his hat-trick:

Sanchez has shone this season after being moved into a centre-forward role, and he now needs just two more goals to equal last year's tally of 13 in the league.

The Gunners have been crying out for a marquee striker for several years. Lucas Perez was drafted in over the summer and could yet prove to be a shrewd purchase, but he's had little opportunity to show as much so far because of injury.

Arsenal will be hoping the Chilean can fire them to the Premier League title. Games against Stoke City and then at Everton and Manchester City in their next three could provide some indication as to whether he will be able to.