- Guangzhou R&F striker surpasses Elkeson's 2014 benchmark of 28 in 4-1 win over Beijing Renhe
- The 32-year-old has set the new bar in only 25 games and still has three more to improve his tally
The Israeli city of Rishon LeZion, the country's fourth largest, is most famous for its wine.
It is also the hometown of Israel's star footballer and former national team captain Eran Zahavi who, at 32, appears to be ageing like the finest of wines.
This weekend, the Guangzhou R&F player scored his 29th goal of the 2019 Chinese Super League campaign, setting a new single season scoring record with a swish of his right boot in the 4-1 win over Beijing Renhe.
Zahavi has only played 25 games.
Eran Zahavi scored the 29th goal this season in CSL in the 4:1 away victory over Beijing Renhe today and becomes the player who achieves most goals in a single season in Chinese top division. The 32-year-old striker breaks the 28-goal record set up by Elkeson (Ai Kesen) in 2014. pic.twitter.com/VUTQNhpi9c
" Titan Sports Plus (@titan_plus) November 1, 2019
The Israeli bested Elkeson's mark of 28, which was set in 2014 and had looked like it would never be beaten.
Shanghai SIPG's Wu Lei went close last year, scoring 27 goals in 29 games for the champions.
View this post on Instagram
The best way to celebrate the record
A post shared by Eran Zahavi (@eranzahavi) on Nov 3, 2019 at 6:30am PST
It's all the more impressive that while Wu and Elkeson were at title-winning teams when they were winning golden boots, Zahavi has done it all at mid-table R&F. He's also done it since arriving in the league at 29.
Zahavi himself hit 27 goals in 2017, his first full season in China and one where he was also named MVP. He would expect that honour again, especially if he can add to his tally in the final three games of the season to raise the bar even higher.
Should someone else be given the MVP award, at least Zahavi appears happy to have broken it, based on his Instagram post celebrating the record.
He also gets his reward " the Hebrew-language news website Walla reported that the record-breaking goal guarantees its scorer a US$1 million bonus.
He's worth the money, as he's that rarity in football, both a scorer of great goals and a great goalscorer.
Zahavi proves that nearly every weekend in the CSL and he has been doing it on national duty, too " he has scored in 21 of the last 26 games he has played for club and country.
Last minute rabona winner in China pic.twitter.com/oZQEKz6iKm
" ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 14, 2019
The 32-year-old cannot stop scoring. He leads the Euro 2020 scoring charts 11 goals in eight games, very good indeed for a team sitting fifth in their six-team group.
At this rate, it is expected he will make up the 38 goals needed to take the title of Israel's all-time top scorer from Alon Mizrahi.
His own highlights reel makes compelling watching with one rabona finish to settle a game against Tianjin Tianhai this season rightly going viral. There's a chance he might actually be getting better.
That is unstoppableThis strike from Israel midfielder Eran Zahavi pic.twitter.com/r8ukV0LbDH
" Goal (@goal) October 13, 2019
His last season in Israel in 2016 ended with him setting a new season scoring high" he netted 35 goals in 36 games to break a 61-year-old record.
The Maccabi Tel Aviv man then hit the ground running in China. He scored and provided two assists on his debut in July 2016, despite only coming on as a second-half sub, and has not let the levels drop.
He's contracted until the end of the season and the question is whether he is going to get better still.
GOAL! Eran Zahavi! It didn't take long! One minute into the 1st game of the season and he gives @GuangzhouRFFC a 1:0 lead! pic.twitter.com/SZP3ghWEcl
" Israel Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) March 2, 2018
Some strikers seem to peak in their mid-30s. In the English Premier League, Manchester United's Teddy Sheringham was named Footballer of the Year by both the Professional Footballers' Association and Football Writers' Association in 2001 at the age of 35.
Last season in Italy's Serie A, 35-year-old Fabio Quagliarella took the Capocannoniere title as the league's top scorer with 26 goals while also being named the league's best forward.
Early contender for goal of the season via Quagliarella pic.twitter.com/EaTyrZaG2y
" Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) September 3, 2018
With his current golden touch, perhaps Zahavi's own career peak is yet to come.
Older strikers are certainly in vogue in China. Across Guangzhou at Evergrande, Brazilian forward Aloisio announced he would be returning to Evergrande ahead of next season on a three-and-a-half year contract. It is also expected he will be naturalised as Chinese to help fellow 31-year-old Elkeson fire the team to the Fifa World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
In the only other game involving CSL sides of the weekend, former English Premier League strikers Odion Ighalo, 30, and Graziano Pelle, 34, squared off in the Chinese FA Cup final first leg.
Phoning it in https://t.co/6455JmKRs7
" Cameron Wilson 韦侃仑 (@CameronWEF) November 3, 2019
The Italian scored from the spot to give Shandong Luneng a 1-0 win and a lead for the return leg in Shanghai on December 6, fuelling hopes they will take the AFC Champions League spot that winning the FA Cup brings.
Several websites wrongly said the Super Eagles striker's Shanghai Shenhua had been eliminated, but much like Zahavi and the aged strikers lighting up China, don't count them out just yet.
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