Performance Zone: Giuliano top of the heap
Friday, September 16, 2016
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Zenit's Giuliano has another reason to celebrate after his match-winning performance at Maccabi Tel-Aviv, his goal and three assists taking him top of the FedEx Performance Zone rankings.
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The FedEx Performance Zone tracks the form of all the players in the UEFA Europa League group stage; check out the stars of matchday one.
1st: Giuliano (Zenit)
Zenit's amazing comeback from 3-0 down to win 4-3 was in no small part thanks to their Brazil winger, who scored the equaliser and set up the Russian side's other three goals in a truly inspired display. The 26-year-old has also netted four times in as many Russian Premier League appearances since his summer move from Grêmio.
"That was incredible," said Giuliano. "It is difficult to explain what went on in those first 77 minutes. Our opponents were better than us during this period. The key was our second goal – after that we believed in ourselves again and started to play much better. I have five goals and four assists already, which represents a great start to my Zenit career."
2nd: Leon Bailey (Genk)
The Jamaican, 19, moved up nine places with his two goals, which proved to be in vain for his team in their 3-2 loss at Rapid Wien. He now has five goals in his last five UEFA Europa League games in addition to one scored in the Eerste Klasse this term.
3rd: Alexander Grünwald (Austria Wien)
The captain and playmaker leapt 31 places courtesy of a superb strike and assist – along with a 78% pass completion rate – in the Violets' 3-2 triumph at Astra Giurgiu.
On the rise
11th: Haris Medunjanin (Maccabi Tel-Aviv)
A fantastic performance by the midfielder was highlighted by two goals in Maccabi's dramatic reversal against Zenit. He jumps a massive 156 places and his all-round play was strong with a solid 82% pass completion rate and three crosses which found a team-mate.
13th: Alexandre Pato (Villarreal)
The former Milan forward chipped in with a goal and an assist to help the Yellow Submarine to a 2-1 victory over Zürich. His link-up play was just as impressive as he connected with a team-mate with 27 of his 32 passes – a high completion rate (84%) given most were in the attacking third.
Honourable mention
23rd: Jan Sýkora (Liberec)
He may not be a fast climber, but the midfielder registered the fastest goal in UEFA Europa League history – his strike at Qarabağ coming after just 10.69 seconds. It elevated him 84 places.