Kane usurps Messi as Europe´s top scorer in 2017
Harry Kane’s second goal against Southampton saw the Tottenham striker overtake Lionel Messi as Europe’s top scorer in 2017 with 55.
The England international scored a hat-trick in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Burnley to move to 53 goals for club and country in the calendar year.
That treble put him one behind Barcelona superstar Messi, who earlier that day scored a penalty in his final game of 2017 – a 3-0 defeat of Real Madrid in El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Kane moved level with Messi by heading his first against the Saints at Wembley on Tuesday – breaking Alan Shearer’s record of 36 Premier League goals in one year in the process.
And a stunning 12 months for the 24-year-old was capped off with his second, a simple tap-in from Son Heung-min’s square ball.
38 – Sonny plays across the face of goal and @HKane is on hand to double both his personal tally and our lead. GET IN!
#THFC 2-0 #SaintsFC pic.twitter.com/jE831fYJNp
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) 26 December 2017
Kane’s 55 goals came from just 52 appearances, at 1.06 per game, while Messi’s 54 were scored from 64 outings (0.84).
The Spurs man heads an all-star leaderboard atop the scoring charts as Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani all finished 2017 with 53 goals to their name.
