In Nanjing City's soccer battlefield, foreign star Lionel Messi is boasting the third place in the scorer's list with 11 goals (including 2 penalty kicks). However, as he missed the 1-1 draw with Liaoning Shenyang City this round, the goal tally has not increased or decreased. 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, Nanjing City will usher in the Jiangsu Derby with Suzhou Dongwu, a jam-packed battle in which Messi appears to be ready to go. Meanwhile, there are three scorers with nine goals (including one penalty kick), Jiangxi Beidamen's Magno, Sichuan Jiuniu's Ma Xiaolei and Kunshan's Kovic, who are tied for fourth. Magno failed to score in Jiangxi Beidaimen's 1-1 draw with Heilongjiang Bingcheng despite starting the whole game.
Ma Xiaolei was on the bench for Sichuan Jiuniu's 2-0 win over Beijing Institute of Technology, probably because two local players, Wang Chu and Xia Dalong, had already contributed to the team's lead. Considering that the next round will be the card battle with Qingdao Hainiu, a direct rival for the Super League, Ma Xiaolei was not sent to the field. On the other hand, Kovic made his debut in Kunshan's 2-0 win over Qingdao Qingdao Youth Island, but had few chances on goal, and it was local scorer Feng Boyuan who made the difference with two headers. In the 65th minute, Kovic was replaced by Delgado, a new recruit on loan from Shandong Taishan.
In the just-concluded 21st round, the top six scorers in the Central League scoring list rarely fell into a goal drought collectively, which may just be a coincidence. But no matter what, the competition for the Golden Boot in this season's Central League is still fierce. It can be expected that in the next 13 rounds of the league, all kinds of scorers will start a fierce competition. As a matter of fact, as long as the strength is there, and with the favor of Lady Luck, the next goal is just around the corner. As in the Premier League, South Korean striker Son broke his goal drought of the season only in the 8th round, completing a hat-trick in less than 30 minutes in Tottenham Hotspur's 6-2 win over Leicester City, even though he came on as a substitute.
