Two marksmen at the opposite end of the age spectrum star in FIFA.com's latest weekly stats review, with Andres Fleurquin and Victor Osimhen jostling for position with Porto, Inter Milan and a crazy comeback in Austria.
40 years and 272 days was the age at which Andres Fleurquin became the week’s oldest top-flight goalscorer on Saturday. Nor was this an ordinary goal from the former Uruguay international, back playing with Defensor, the club with which he started his career over two decades ago. It came with 94 minutes on the clock, just seven minutes after his arrival as a late substitute, and handed the Montevideo outfit a dramatic and hugely important 3-2 win away to Cerro. Fleurquin's vital strike, the former Galatasaray and Cadiz midfielder’s first of the season, saw Defensor leapfrog their opponents to move third, keeping them within touching distance of leading duo Penarol and Nacional.
12 goals from as many matches have given Inter Milan their lowest-scoring start to a Serie A season for over two decades. Remarkably though, this meagre return has been sufficient to yield I Nerazzurri's best points return in three years, taking them joint-top of the league. Inter have done this by making a habit of winning 1-0, with seven of their eight victories this season having come by that scoreline. And while they have scored just seven times from open play, and managed more than one goal in a single game just once – a 2-1 win at Carpi – their goals-against tally of seven is the envy of the division. Napoli boast Serie A’s second-best defence, and they also have the benefit of its leading marksman. Gonzalo Higuain is on nine for the season in the league and reached a notable landmark on Sunday when he scored his 200th club goal to settle a 1-0 win over Udinese. Of that impressive tally, 64 have come in the colours of Napoli, while Higuain’s stints at Real Madrid and River Plate account for 121 and 15 respectively.
11months and 11 days have now passed in 2015 and, still, Porto have yet to concede a league goal at home. This remarkable run, which spans 15 games this year and 16 overall, dates back to 14 December 2014, when Benfica became the last team to find the net at the Estadio do Dragao in the top flight. Yet while the matches since have seen Porto rack up an aggregate score of 39-0, their frugality did not take them to the title last season and is not enough to see them lead the table this time around. Jorge Jesus is proving their nemesis in that respect, with the 61-year-old – having led Benfica to two successive titles – now in charge of a Sporting Lisbon team unbeaten and leading the Liga standings.
10 goals in seven appearances is the impressive tally that enabled Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen to set a new FIFA U-17 World Cup record on Sunday. The Golden Eaglets star found the net at least once in every one of his outings at Chile 2015, with his final haul eclipsing the previous benchmark of nine set by France’s Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2001 and equalled by Souleymane Coulibaly of Côte d’Ivoire a decade later. The strike that broke the record also propelled Nigeria towards a fifth U-17 World Cup crown, bolstering their already-preeminent tally with a 2-0 win over a Mali side appearing in their nation's first-ever FIFA final. Nigeria, who have participated in eight of the competition’s 16 finals to date, also became just the second side – after Brazil in 1997/1999 – to retain the U-17 title.
4goals up with 32 minutes played was the position from which Austria’s TSV Neumarkt somehow contrived to lose on Saturday. The third-tier outfit had raced into that commanding 4-0 lead and looked on course for a seemingly certain victory at neighbours SV Seekirchen. However, a couple of goals for the hosts before half-time set nerves jangling, and the second half witnessed an incredible collapse. First, Bernhard Rosslhuber’s goal a minute after the break made it 4-3, then Ingo Enzenberger was sent off for Neumarkt before Rosslhuber equalised, sparking a crazy period that witnessed another two of the visitors’ players given their marching orders. Even with eight men, it seemed that Neumarkt would hang on for a draw, but then - in the 89th minute - Michael Aigner struck the decisive blow for Seekirchen and sealed the week’s unlikeliest comeback.