Ighalo leads Ronaldo in Saudi goals race

Ighalo leads Ronaldo in Saudi goals race

Odion Ighalo moved ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the goals race in Saudi Arabia after he scored a brace to help Al Hilal thump Al Taawon 4-0 on Saturday.

The Nigerian striker scored the opening goal in the 32nd minute and then made it 2-0 in the 45th minute.

He has now scored 11 goals in 15 games ahead of Al Nassr’s Ronaldo, who has netted eight times in top scorer race.

However, the Brazilian duo of Anderson Conceicao Talisca and Carlos Alberto leads the way with 13 goals each.

Ighalo was Goal King of Saudi Arabia last season with 20 goals.

Ighalo dedicated his latest goals to his mother as a birthday gift.

“That was for you MAMA. Happy birthday to my sweet mother,” he wrote on Instagram.

In the England, Chuba Akpom netted his 22nd goal of the season for Middlesbrough who boosted their promotion hopes by coming from behind to beat 3-1 Swansea and close the gap on the Championship’s promotion leaders.

Aaron Ramsey and Cameron Archer scored after the break to turn the game on its head just moments after Swansea, who led at the interval 1-0 thanks to Joel Piroe’s 14th goal of the season, had a goal ruled out.

Top scorer Akpom netted from the penalty spot to seal a rousing comeback and leave Michael Carrick’s side just four points behind second-placed Sheffield United, who were beaten by Luton.

Alex Iwobi made his 155th Premier League start  in his 201th game for Everton who edged Brentford by a lone goal on Saturday.

His compatriot, Frank Onyeka came on for Norgaard in the 74th minute for his 13th league game of the season.

Emmanuel Dennis came on for Jesse Lingard as Nottingham Forest slumped to a 3-1 loss away at Tottemham Hotspurs on Saturday.

Harry Kane scored twice in a comfortable victory over Forest as Spurs consolidated their place in the Premier League’s top four and relieved some immediate pressure on manager Antonio Conte.

Liverpool’s surprise defeat at Bournemouth earlier on Saturday means Spurs are six points clear of Jurgen Klopp’s side in fourth and seven points above Newcastle, who have played three games fewer.

At the King Power stadium, Kelechi Iheanacho failed to add to his tally in 11 gamea against Chelsea who romped to a 3-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday.

The Nigerian forward who was rated 4.71 by the BBC was replaced in the 76th minute for Jamie Vardy.

The game was Iheanacho’s 142nd Premier League game for Leicester City since he joined from Manchester City in August 2017 and 189 overall since he made his debut in the competition in August 2015.

His countryman Wilfred Ndidi was an unused substitute in the game.

Ben Chilwell volleyed in from a tight angle against his old club for the opener but Patson Daka rifled home an excellent equaliser after Ricardo Pereira won the ball off the dawdling Felix outside the box.

Kai Havertz pounced six minutes into first-half injury time with an excellent dinked finish from Enzo Fernandez’s clever aerial ball before Mateo Kovacic sealed the win as he volleyed in from Mudryk’s header.

The sliding Foxes, who ended with 10 men following Wout Faes’ late dismissal for a second booking, now just sit one point outside the relegation zone.