Crotone striker, Simeon Nwankwo has equalled Yakubu Ayegbeni’s European league mark with his latest goal against Udinese in a Serie A fixture at the Stadio Ezio Scida.
The lanky striker was on target on Saturday, converting a penalty on 68 minutes albeit, the Pythagoreans were subdued 2-1 by Udinese in an Italian elite division game.
Thanks to his effort, he has 17 Serie A goals in this campaign, same as Ayegbeni who is Nigeria’s top scorer in a single top-five European League campaign in the 2000s.
After completing his loan spell at Leicester City, ‘the Yak’ joined the Riversiders for an undisclosed fee. In his maiden season at Ewood Park, he became an instant hit – scoring 17 English top-flight goals in 30 appearances.
His best performance came on December 3, 2011. There, he scored all four goals as Blackburn silenced Swansea City 4-2. That was his first Rovers hat-trick and his first four-goal game since the last day of the 2003-04 season for Portsmouth against Middlesbrough.
Sadly, Ayegbeni’s heroics could not rescue Steve Kean’s men from getting demoted to the English Championship after they finished in 19th place.
Simy has now matched Ayegbeni’s record as Nigeria’s top-scorer in a single season in Europe’s top-5 leagues consisting of the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and La Liga.
Should red-hot Nwankwo score at least one goal in his club’s remaining seven league matches, he will surely overtake his compatriot’s mark that has stood for a decade.
Crotone’s 24th loss of the season sees them remain at the base of the log after accruing just 15 points from 31 games, making them a sure bet for demotion to the Serie B.