Lionel Messi closes the gap as Cristiano Ronaldo sees red

Lionel Messi has again closed the gap on his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo at the head of the ESM Golden Shoe rankings. The Argentinian forward scored twice in Barcelona’s 6-0 victory over Elche to take his tally for the season to 21.

Ronaldo did get on the scoreseet in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Cordoba, but the reigning World Player of the year was subsequently sent off, which means he will be suspended for at least two matches.

He currently leads Messi by seven goals, but given the Barca’s man’s recent rich vein of form, it is safe to assume that the gap will have shrunk by the time Ronaldo returns to action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg3dCEMIYm8

The only other mover in the top 10 was Alexandre Lacazette, who maintained his remarkable run of form, netting for the eight match in a row as Lyon defeated Metz 2-0. That’s 21 in 22 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) 21 x 2 = 42
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
Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon) 21 x 1,5 = 31,5
8. 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
‘Neymar’ da Silva (FC Barcelona) 14 x 2 = 28
14. Eran Zahavi (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 18 x 1,5 = 27
15. Charlie Austin (Queens Park Rangers) 13 x 2 = 26
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 13 x 2 = 26
Carlos Tevez (Juventus) 13 x 2 = 26
18. Vidar Örn Kjartansson (Valerenga) 25 x 1 = 25
19. Carlos Bacca (Sevilla) 12 x 2 = 24
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) 12 x 2 = 24
Chris Venables (Aberystwyth Town) 24 x 1 = 24
22. Janis Ikaunieks (Metalurgs Liepajas) 23 x 1 = 23
Lasse Vibe (IFK Göteborg) 23 x 1 = 23
24. Nikolai Yanush (FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
25. 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. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 10 x 2 = 20
Paulo Dybala (US Palermo) 10 x 2 = 20
Christy Fagan (Saint Patrick’s Athletic) 20 x 1 = 20
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) 10 x 2 = 20
Gonzalo Higuaín (SSC Napoli) 10 x 2 = 20
Patrick Hoban (FC Dundalk) 20 x 1 = 20
Mauro Icardi (Internazionale) 10 x 2 = 20
Jérémy Menez (AC Milan) 10 x 2 = 20
Arjen Robben (FC Bayern München) 10 x 2 = 20
Edison Luis dos Santos ‘Tarabai’ (Hibernian FC) 20 x 1 = 20