Golden Shoe 2016-17: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Updated Standings on November 7
Evgeni Kabaev rose to the top of the standings in the race for the European Golden Shoe in the latest round of games as he netted a brace in Sillamae Kalev's Estonian top-flight clash with Rakvere Tarvas, while Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one point behind after bagging a stunning four-goal haul.
The Gabon international had a hand in all five of BVB's goals as they romped to a 5-2 victory over Hamburg, while Kalev helped his side to a 3-0 win.
Mauro Icardi also added to his tally with a brace against Crotone, putting him level with Roma's Edin Dzeko on 20 points.
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Here is how the race is shaping up:
| 1 | Evgeni Kabayev | Kalev | Estonia | 23 x 1.0 | 23.0 |
| T2 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Borussia Dortmund | Germany | 11 x 2.0 | 22.0 |
| T2 | Anthony Modeste | FC Cologne | Germany | 11 x 2.0 | 22.0 |
| T2 | Gerard Gohou | Kairat Almaty | Kazakhstan | 22 x 1.0 | 22.0 |
| T5 | Vitali Rodionov | BATE Borisov | Belarus | 14 x 1.5 | 21.0 |
| T5 | Gerard Gohou | Kairat Almaty | Kazakhstan | 21 x 1.0 | 21.0 |
| T7 | Mauro Icardi | Inter Milan | Italy | 10 x 2.0 | 20.0 |
| T7 | Edin Dzeko | Roma | Italy | 10 x 2.0 | 20.0 |
| Selected others | |||||
| Diego Costa | Chelsea | England | 9 x 2.0 | 18.0 | |
| Edinson Cavani | PSG | France | 11 x 1.5 | 16.5 | |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | England | 8 x 2.0 | 16.0 | |
| Luis Suarez | Barcelona | Spain | 8 x 2.0 | 16.0 | |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Spain | 8 x 2.0 | 16.0 | |
| Alexandre Lacazette | Lyon | France | 10 x 1.5 | 15.0 | |
| Gonzalo Higuain | Juventus | Italy | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 | |
| Romelu Lukaku | Everton | England | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 | |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Germany | 7 x 2.0 | 14.0 |
Rules: Points are calculated by multiplying a player's goal tally by a difficulty factor, depending on which league the goals are scored in.
For example, goals in Serie A or the Bundesliga are multiplied by two, whereas the Estonian Meistriliiga has a difficulty factor of one, and so the number of goals is equal to the number of points.
Aubameyang Stuns Hamburg
Aubameyang scored after just four minutes when he tapped home a rebound and had his second when Emre Mor pounced on a poor back pass from Johan Djourou and squared the ball to him in front of an empty net.
The 27-year-old had his hat-trick after 27 minutes when he fired Marc Bartra's knockdown past Rene Adler.
Three minutes after the break, Aubaemyang had his fourth after being found by Christian Pulisic following a poor attempt to clear the ball, driving a low strike into the bottom-left corner.
WhoScored.com shared his numbers after the match, in which he also assisted Ousmane Dembele's goal to round off the visitors' scoring:
STV Sport's Scott McClymont hailed the striker's performance:
Per Reuters (h/t the Daily Mail), he revealed his delight at the performance and the result: "It was very good. I feel very happy tonight. It was an important game for us after four matches without a win. It was a good reaction for the team and especially for me."
Aubameyang is now level with Cologne's Anthony Modeste as the Bundesliga's top scorer this season.
Dortmund's 25 goals make them the most potent attacking team in the German top flight thus far, and such is the quality of their play in the final third, Aubameyang will likely add significantly to his tally before the end of the campaign.
Indeed, he'll be hoping to better his tally of 25 from last year—it likely won't be enough to win him the award given Luis Suarez lifted it with 40, but it will further cement Aubameyang's status as one of the world's deadliest hitmen.
Icardi Bags Impressive Brace
After six games without a goal across September and October, Icardi has returned to form in style with five goals in his last four matches in all competitions for Inter Milan.
He netted twice on Sunday as he gave interim manager Stefano Vecchi his first victory in charge.
After setting up Ivan Perisic for Inter's opener, he doubled their tally from the penalty spot. He made it 3-0 when he directed Eder's cross into the bottom corner.
OptaPaolo highlighted the improvement in his goalscoring compared with last season:
Icardi is among the most ruthless finishers in Serie A if not Europe, but he has often been held back by the lack of quality and creativity around him in Inter's side.
Until the Italian outfit improve, he's unlikely to provide a serious challenge for the Golden Shoe, but he looks set to firmly surpass last year's total of 16 league goals.
