Aubameyang Is Now Targeting Didier Drogba’s Record Of 32 Goals In A Single LS

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has extended his remarkable goalscoring form — and Jean Louis Gasset’s unlikely renaissance — at Marseille.

Aubameyang demonstrated the sharpness and poaching instinct that have set him apart among the finest African goalscorers of his generation, scoring twice for Olympic Marseille against Nantes at Stade Velodrome. The brace took his tally for the season to 22 goals across Ligue 1 and continental competition.

Eight of those goals have come in Gasset’s five matches since taking the reins in Provence after his dismissal from AFCON hosts Ivory Coast during the course of the Nations Cup.

It’s a surprising results for the lead trainer, who has now supervised Aubameyang’s best goalscoring run since September 2019.

“He’s the goalscorer, he is the player in the team,” Gasset said on Amazon Prime after the match. “In every team, there’s a player who makes the difference, in any team in the world.

“We need to protect him, and get him in the best place so that he can keep his energy in order to make the difference later.”

Aubameyang became the top scorer in UEFA Europa League history when he was on target against Villarreal earlier in the week — taking his tally to 33 goals in the competition, outperforming Radamel Falcao – – and he can now reasonably target Didier Drogba’s Marseille record of 32 goals in a solitary league season.

“I knew about him,” Gasset said. “I spoke to friends who had coached him, and I knew where he loved to play, where he likes to start from, and I took it from there.

“We’re building the team around him.”

In Germany, Tella continued his successful season for Bundesliga title-chasing Leverkusen.

Tella was given his Nigeria debut by Jose Peseiro in November, but was a surprise omission from the Super Eagles’ Africa Cup of Nations squad.

Peseiro had no shortage of attacking depth at his disposal before setting off for Ivory Coast, with few national teams in the world able to call upon as many offensive threats as the Super Eagles, but Tella’s omission, two months after his international bow, was a setback for the 24-year-old.

He has nevertheless continued to make his mark, memorably netting twice in the 2-0 away victory at SV Darmstadt 98 in February before registering an assist as title rivals Bayern Munich were dispatched 3-0, and now he has returned to the international fold after being named for the coming AFCON qualifiers after Peseiro’s departure.

He celebrated his call-up when he opened the scoring against 10-men Wolfsburg in the 37th minute, in most unlikely fashion.

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The goal, his first since that Darmstadt double, was all about the magical assist from Alejandro Grimaldo, who evaded his marker with a deft feint in the penalty box before crossing for Tella; the wideman doesn’t typically pose a major threat in the air — he is just 173 cm tall — but made no mistake with a well-placed header.

Tella’s relationship with left-back Grimaldo could represent a blueprint for the Super Eagles, who have their own talented attacking options at full-back.

“Grimaldo gets me a lot of goals and opportunities, and we spoke before the game. I said if I scored I’d go to him. It was nice to celebrate, but more importantly, it was good to get the win for the team.”

Meanwhile, in Italy, Hellas Verona find themselves in a relegation dogfight but they have some breathing space after Folorunsho, on loan from Victor Osimhen’s Napoli, scored from range to secure three points against fellow strugglers Lecce.

Verona grabbed a six-game winless streak by beating Sassuolo last end of the week, and now they have gotten back to back wins since the opening weeks of the season.