Football

Messi scores one, gets two

Published

5 years ago

April 3, 2019

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Leo Messi is have another spell, another season. Again we are not surprised at whatever the little magician does. Yesterday it was a supered freekick that helped his side drag a point from game versus Villareal.

Talking about FreeKicks, he’s scored six consecutive free kick and that makes him the first player in the top five leagues in Europe to do so.

The news however is also related to the freekick he got against Espanyol. Where he scored another delicious freekick. As the ball beats everyone for the goal post, a defender had his head to it.

And so some statistics collectors didn’t award the Argentine the goal until reviewing the law.

Diario MARCA has officially granted Lionel Messi one more goal than it had previously tallied after an official review.

MARCA’s count controls the Pichichi Trophy (for La Liga top scorer), and is the one used for La Liga players trying to win the European Golden Shoe.

Previously, MARCA had awarded Barcelona’s opening goal in their 2-1 win over Espanyol as an own goal. Messi’s free kick had been deflected by an Espanyol defender practically on the goal line. FIFA rules state that if a shot is headed into the net, the last player on the attacking team to touch the ball is the goalscorer, even if a defender deflects it. An own goal is given only if the ball was heading off-target originally.

The referee’s report had given it as a Messi goal, something echoed by most sports papers, sites, and apps, but not MARCA. However, MARCA after review has awarded the goal to Messi, meaning he is sitting on 32 goals by their count now.

Messi is hoping to extend his record of most European Golden shoes won by one player, and he is now 5 goals ahead of Kylian Mbappé, 11 ahead of Fabio Quagliarella, and 13 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in his bid to win it again. Messi has won the award five times and is looking for his sixth. The player with the second most in the history of the award is Ronaldo with four.

Messi is more comfortably ahead in the Pichchi race, with 13 more than his teammate Luis Suárez, his nearest competitor.

In another news, it was Nigeria’s star boy, Samuel Chukwueze, doing damages to the Barca defence. He scored for Villarreal completely against the run of play to pull the Yellow Submarine within a goal of equalizing with Barcelona. He also gave assist and had a lots of dribbles and direct impact in the over all game.