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By Rasaq Oboirien
The 10 goals scored by Super Eagles star-striker, Victor Boniface for Bayer Leverkusen in 2023 were not listed in the 15 shortlist for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year.
Boniface, like Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons have all set the Bundesliga alight this season, but sadly the Nigerian did not have any of his goals listed on the list for the best goal of 2023 released on Wednesday by the official website of the German league- Bundesliga.com.
The AFCON-bound Boniface has been a revelation since his transfer from Belgium’s Royale Union St. Gilloise in the summer, helping Leverkusen to be the only one of the overall 96 clubs in Europe’s top five leagues that is still unbeaten, as the team has not lost even one of its 25 competitive fixtures this season (22 wins, three draws) and has therefore established a new record in German football.
Xabi Alonso’s men have topped the table at the end of 13 of the 16 matchdays to date, including the last 11 in a row, with 23-year-old Boniface featuring in 16 matches in the course of his career in the Bundesliga. Of these, he has won 13.
Meanwhile, out of a total of 997 goals scored in the Bundesliga in the 2023 calendar year, Kane tops the list with his three goals, one in the hat-trick in Bayern’s comfortable 8-0 win over Darmstadt, with that came from a distance of almost 60 yards (54.8m) which could possibly be the goal of the season. Kane’s goals against Heidenheim and Wolfsburg were the three that made the list.
Goals from Marco Reus (Dortmund) against Hertha Berlin, Xavi, Matthijs de Ligt against Freiburg in April, Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo to stun Bayern at the Allianz Arena, Nico Schlotterbeck for Dortmund against Union Berlin.
Strikes from Florian Wirtz, Joshua Kimmich, Florian Grillitsch, Benjamin Pavard, Jan-Niklas Beste and Jamal Musiala are also in contention for the award.
