Eight-goal Soriano is Europa League top scorer
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Article summary
Jonatan Soriano has become only the second Spanish player to top the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League scoring chart, his eight goals one more than compatriot Paco Alcácer.
Article top media content
Article body
Jonatan Soriano has become just the second Spanish player to top the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League scoring chart, despite his FC Salzburg team being knocked out in the round of 16.
Heading into Wednesday's Turin final, only Kevin Gameiro had a realistic chance of overhauling Soriano, and he would have needed to become the first player to hit a hat-trick in a one-off decider to even draw level. Although the Sevilla forward failed to find the net in 120 minutes in Turin, he came off the bench to convert the decisive penalty in the shoot-out.
Soriano's eight-goal haul came from seven appearances in the competition proper (he also scored three – a first-leg hat-trick – in two play-off games), including a treble in Salzburg's 4-0 victory against IF Elfsborg in the group stage. That was one of four hat-tricks registered this term, with three claimed by Spaniards: Roberto Soldado (Tottenham Hotspur FC 4-1 FC Anji Makhachkala), Paco Alcácer (Valencia CF 5-0 FC Basel 1893) and Olcan Adın (Trabzonspor AŞ 4-2 Apollon Limassol FC).
The 28-year-old Soriano, who started out at RCD Espanyol and had a spell with FC Barcelona B before moving to Austria in 2012, becomes the second Spanish player to end a UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League campaign as leading marksman. Bolo scored seven in Rayo Vallecano de Madrid's run to the quarter-finals in 2000/01, enough to earn a share of the top scorer's prize with Dimitar Berbatov in the Bulgarian's last term at PFC CSKA Sofia.
2013/14 UEFA Europa League top scorers
8 Jonatan Soriano (FC Salzburg)
7 Paco Alcácer (Valencia CF)
6 Roman Bezjak (PFC Ludogorets Razgrad)
5 Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur FC)
5 Kevin Gameiro (Sevilla FC)
5 Olcan Adın (Trabzonspor AŞ)
4 Lima (SL Benfica)
4 Carlos Bacca (Sevilla FC)
3 Rodrigo (SL Benfica)
3 Víctor Machín (Sevilla FC)