5 players who have scored the most match-winning goals in the Premier League this season
With less than 10 matches to go in the Premier League this season, there is still no clear indication of which team will lift the trophy come May. Claudio Ranieri’s resurgent Leicester City have a five-point lead at the top of the table but have a number of tricky fixtures lined up in the coming weeks.Eight points separate the top three with Tottenham Hotspur in second place and north London rivals Arsenal in third. Manchester City are fourth but have a game in hand while West Ham and Manchester United will now be looking to squeeze into the top four. Along the way, there have been a number of goalscorers who have scored the all-important winner a number of times this season. We look at the top five. Stats via WhoScored and TransferMarkt.
#5 Odion Ighalo - 4 winners in 29 games
Before this season started, not many fans knew who Odion Ighalo was. But the Nigerian forward was already making a name for himself in the Championship with Watford as they finished second and gained promotion to the Premier League. Ighalo had scored 20 goals to help the Hornets make the step up to the EPL.
The 26-year-old carried his form into this season as well and could not stop scoring in the Premier League either, netting 13 goals by the end of December. No player had scored more goals in England in the calendar year 2015.
Ighalo’s best performances in the league this season came in wins against Newcastle, West Ham and Liverpool. On all three occasions, he scored a brace, narrowly beating Newcastle 2-1 when it looked like the Magpies would get a point.
Ighalo and Troy Deeney have formed a terrific partnership up front in a traditional 4-4-2 formation and Watford have benefited from the duo’s presence, even sitting as high as seventh in the league. But the goals have dried up for Ighalo, who has not scored since the start of February.