Lionel Messi narrows the gap on Cristiano Ronaldo in race to become Europe’s leading goalscorer

Lionel Messi has closed the gap on Cristiano Ronaldo at the head of the ESM Golden shoe rankings, although to do so, the Barcelona man had to score a hat-trick as his great rival scored twice against Getafe.

The two players, who earlier this month were voted number one and two in the world at the annual FIFA Ballon d’Or awards, show no sign of resting on their laurels.

With Ronaldo banging in two on Saturday, Messi’s eclipsed his foe by scoring a hat-trick – including a rare headed goal – in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory over Deportivo.

The pair now sit one and two in this season’s rankings and barring injury, it seems a safe bet to assume that they will finish in those position come the season’s end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzZgqpGy1kQ

Another climber this week is Diego Costa who scored twice in Chelsea’s 5-0 win at Swansea to take him to 17 for the season, two behind Messi and 11 behind the seemingly unassailable Ronaldo.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Lacazette continued hs remarkable run of form, netting for the seventh match in a row as Lyon won 2-0 at Lens. That’s 20 in 21 matches for the 23-year-old.

POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 28 x 2 = 56
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 19 x 2 = 38
3. Evgeni Kabaev (Sillamäe Kalev) 36 x 1 = 36
4. Diego Costa (Chelsea) 17 x 2 = 34
5. Igor Subbotin (Levadia Tallinn) 32 x 1 = 32
6. Andrej Kramaric (HNK Rijeka/Leicester City) 21 x 1.5 = 31.5
7. Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Fabrice Kouadio ‘Manucho’ (FC Infonet) 30 x 1 = 30
9. Jonatan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
10. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) 14 x 2 = 28
Vladislavs Gutkovskis (Skonto Riga) 28 x 1 = 28
Jackson Martinez (FC Porto) 14 x 2 = 28
13. Eran Zahavi (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 18 x 1.5 = 27
14. Charlie Austin (Queens Park Rangers) 13 x 2 = 26
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 13 x 2 = 26
Carlos Tevez (Juventus) 13 x 2 = 26
17. Vidar Örn Kjartansson (Valerenga IF) 25 x 1 = 25
18. ‘Neymar’ da Silva (Barcelona) 12 x 2 = 24
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) 12 x 2 = 24
Chris Venables (Aberystwyth Town) 24 x 1 = 24
21. Janis Ikaunieks (Metalurgs Liepajas) 23 x 1 = 23
Lasse Vibe (IFK Göteborg) 23 x 1 = 23
23. Nikolai Yanush (FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk) 15 x 1.5 = 22.5
24. Carlos Bacca (Sevilla) 11 x 2 = 22
Klaemint Olsen (NSI) 22 x 1 = 22
Albert Prosa (Flora Tallinn) 22 x 1 = 22
27. Joe Gormley (Cliftonville) 21 x 1 = 21
Aleksandr Makas (FC Minsk) 14 x 1.5 = 21
Hidetoshi Wakui (Nomme Kaljü) 21 x 1 = 21
30. Paulo Dybala (Palermo) 10 x 2 = 20
Christy Fagan (Saint Patrick’s Athletic) 20 x 1 = 20
Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli) 10 x 2 = 20
Patrick Hoban (Dundalk) 20 x 1 = 20
Mauro Icardi (Internazionale) 10 x 2 = 20
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) 10 x 2 = 20
Edison Luis dos Santos ‘Tarabai’ (Hibernian) 20 x 1 = 20