Golden Shoe 2016-17: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Updated Points on October 31
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea's Diego Costa added to their scoring tallies to move up the 2016-17 European Golden Shoe rankings during the latest world football gameweek, but it was the unheralded Anthony Modeste of FC Cologne who stole the show, scoring a hat-trick to climb to the top of the chart.
The 28-year-old guided his team to a 3-0 win over Hamburg and has scored 11 goals this season. He already holds a substantial points lead over the favourites for this year's Golden Shoe title, although it's doubtful he can sustain this tempo.
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Ronaldo also scored a hat-trick―and missed a penalty―against Alaves on Saturday, his first multiple-goal outing for Real this season, while Costa continued his excellent pace with his eighth Premier League goal of the campaign in the Blues' win over Southampton on Sunday.
Here's a look at the latest Golden Shoe standings:
| 1 | Anthony Modeste | FC Cologne | Germany | 11 x 2.0 | 22.0 |
| T2 | Vitali Rodionov | BATE Borisov | Belarus | 14 x 1.5 | 21.0 |
| T2 | Yevgeni Kabayev | Kalev | Estonia | 21 x 1.0 | 21.0 |
| T2 | Gerard Gohou | Kairat Almaty | Kazakhstan | 21 x 1.0 | 21.0 |
| 5 | Edin Dzeko | Roma | Italy | 10 x 2.0 | 20.0 |
| Selected others | |||||
| Mauro Icardi | Inter | Italy | 8 x 2.0 | 16.0 | |
| Diego Costa | Chelsea | England | 8 x 2.0 | 16.0 | |
| Edinson Cavani | PSG | France | 10 x 1.5 | 15.0 | |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Germany | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 | |
| Luis Suarez | Barcelona | Spain | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 | |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Spain | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 | |
| Gonzalo Higuain | Juventus | Italy | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 | |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | England | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 | |
| Romelu Lukaku | Everton | England | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 |
Points for the Golden Shoe table are calculated by the amount of goals multiplied by a difficulty factor—determined by the strength of the league in which the goals are scored. For example, goals scored in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A are worth two points, so Modeste's tally of 11 goals yields 22 points.
Ronaldo Finding His Form
Ronaldo's absence and sloppy form was a big story during the first few weeks of the 2016-17 season, as the Portugal captain needed some time to get back to his best after suffering an injury during the UEFA Euro 2016 final.
The 31-year-old has been steadily improving, however, and on Saturday against Alaves, we finally saw vintage Ronaldo in action once again. The three-time Ballon d'Or winner was all over the pitch, bagging three goals and leading Los Blancos to a comfortable victory.
Unsurprisingly, manager Zinedine Zidane was pleased with his performance, as reported by BBC Sport:
"It's great that Cristiano Ronaldo scored, and that he did so three times is even better. We are happy with his performance.
We are always going to ask that he scores goals but he was good in every aspect. Let's hope it stays that way. He has a lot of patience and showed today that with hard work anything is possible.
"
Ronaldo has scored five goals in La Liga on the season, good for a share of fifth place in the race to be top scorer, and he's expected to pick up the pace over the coming weeks. Consistency has been an issue for him early in the 2016-17 campaign, but Real still lead the Liga standings.
Costa Continues His Run
Chelsea striker Costa has been nearly unplayable through the first 10 gameweeks of the Premier League season, and he continued his superb run at St. Mary's on Sunday with his eighth goal of the season.
As shared by WhoScored.com, the Spain international has added a new element to his game this season, and it's paying dividends early:
The 28-year-old is thriving under manager Antonio Conte, who seems to have revitalised the entire team. Summer signing Michy Batshuayi showed a lot of promise during pre-season, but at this rate, the Belgium international better get used to the bench.
Costa leads the Premier League in scoring ahead of Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Everton's Romelu Lukaku, two players who vie for the league's golden boot every year. Both found the net in Week 10 as well and should climb the European standings moving forward.
Modeste's Cinderella Run
One player few expected to lead the standings at this stage of the season is Cologne's Modeste, who simply can't stop scoring. The 28-year-old has bagged an absurd 11 goals in his first nine Bundesliga matches this term, leading Cologne to a surprising fourth place in the German top division.
His hat-trick against Hamburg moved Modeste into the lead, and per OptaFranz, it had been some time since a Cologne player last accomplished the feat in the Bundesliga:
Modeste has always been an opportunistic striker who will shoot early and often, so there's a good chance he'll keep adding to his tally. His pace will be difficult to maintain, but Cologne will ride his hot streak for as long as they can.
