Leandro, snapped up by the ACL defending champions from Vissel Kobe at the beginning of this year, scored in all matches, save the last one against FC Seoul, which Gamba lost 2-1.
However, the Brazilian scored a hat-trick when the two sides met in the opening leg before slamming in a brace against Indonesian whipping boys Sriwijaya. He was also on target in both the legs against China’s Shandong Luneng.
Ettifaq’s powerful Ghanaian talisman Prince Tagoe is a goal behind Leandro when it comes to bulging the net.
After lacklustre performances in the two opening encounters, Prince cut loose against UAE side Shabab and hit a brace. He followed this up with a three-goal riot in the return leg against the same rivals, before signing off with a double against Uzbeks Bunyodkor.
Saudi side Al Shabab’s Nasser Al Shamrani scored six goals and Qatari side Gharafa’s Araujo notched up five to stay in the upper reaches of the goal-scoring charts.
There are five Brazilians in the top-10 list of goal-scorers, testimony of Samba football’s prowess in Asia.
LIST OF ACL GOALSCORERS
(AFTER GROUP STAGE)
No. |
Name |
Team |
Goals |
1 |
LEANDRO MONTERA DA SILVA |
GAMBA OSAKA (JPN) |
8 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 8 (total) |
2 |
PRINCE TAGOE |
ETTIFAQ (KSA) |
7 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 7 (total) |
3 |
NASSIR AL SHAMRANI |
AL SHABAB (KSA) |
4 (G), 2 (PK), 0 (Own), 6 (total) |
4 |
CLEMERSON DE ARAUJO |
AL GHARAFA (QAT) |
5 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 5 (total) |
5 |
DAMJANOVIC DEJAN |
FC SEOUL (KOR) |
4 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 4 (total) |
6 |
DENILSON |
POHANG STEELERS (KOR) |
4 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 4 (total) |
7 |
MARQUINHOS |
KASHIMA ANTLERS (JPN) |
4 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 4 (total) |
8 |
RENATINHO |
KAWASAKI FRONTALE (JPN) |
4 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 4 (total) |
9 |
SALEH BASHAR |
ETTIFAQ (KSA) |
4 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 4 (total) |
10 |
TADJIYEV ZAYNITDIN |
PAKHTAKOR (UZB) |
4 (G), 0 (PK), 0 (Own), 4 (total) |