Premier League Golden Boot: Kane pips Salah in the end
With the 2020-21 Premier League season having drawn to a close, the time has come to look back at the campaign’s individual statistics and accolades, and there are none as significant as the Golden Boot.
Heading into the final gameweek, Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah were level pegging on 22 goals each, making the last match a straight shootout for the Premier League’s top scorer accolade.
It was Kane who grabbed that all-important goal, scoring Tottenham Hotspur’s first in their 4-2 win over Leicester City, while Salah failed to find the back of the net for Liverpool against Crystal Palace. It’s the Englishman’s third Premier League Golden Boot, and the fifth time he has scored 20 goals or more in a top-flight season. While Kane takes all the plaudits for his 23 strikes, let’s take a look at the final top five in the Premier League’s scoring charts.
Harry Kane (23 goals)
It’s a testament to Kane’s terrific scoring ability that, even in this incredibly difficult season for Tottenham where they have not been much fancied on sites like Betdaq, he has still performed to such a consistently high level. When he first broke into the first team in the 2014-15 season, few would have imagined that he would become the leading striker in the Premier League over the next several years, but Kane has cultivated his status as the division’s best goal-getter through hard work and extreme self-belief.
Whether or not the 2020-21 campaign proves to be Kane’s last at Spurs remains to be seen. He has made it clear he would like to leave in search of silverware, but with three years still remaining on his contract, along with the tightened finances of clubs during the global pandemic, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him lining out again for Tottenham in August.
Mohamed Salah (22 goals)
In a Liverpool season that swung from high to low to high again, the form of Salah was the one constant. Although he has not reached the insane heights of his first season for Liverpool in the years since, Salah’s continued excellence is one of the main reasons why Jürgen Klopp’s side were able to recover from the atrocious form of the second half of the campaign, and secure a third-place finish. Salah will be devastated to have missed out on the Golden Boot, but that will only fire him up to score even more goals next season.
Bruno Fernandes (18 goals)
The impact Bruno Fernandes has had on Manchester United since his arrival cannot be underestimated. He was exactly the player the club needed to ascend to the next level, and the form of the Portuguese international is one of the main reasons United were able to finish second in the Premier League table. Fernandes’ 18 goals, albeit a large chunk of them from the penalty spot, have contributed to season of progress for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s men.
Son Heung-Min (17 goals)
It’s hard to imagine where Tottenham would be without both Kane and Son Heung-Min, the latter contributing a healthy 17 goals — his best Premier League goal return to date. The South Korean has formed a formidable partnership with Kane, with the pair also accounting for 23 assists this season. If Kane does leave the club this summer, then there will be a lot of pressure on Son to bring his goalscoring to the next level.
Patrick Bamford (17 goals)
In a stellar first season back in the top flight for Leeds United, Patrick Bamford proved his doubters wrong. Many felt he was not up to the standard required to score regularly in the Premier League, but Bamford has looked full of confidence all season, and his 17 goals are a result of the belief instilled in him by coach Marcelo Bielsa. It’ll be a big summer for Leeds, but Bamford will be eager to do even better next season and establish himself as an Elland Road legend.