Yakubu Aiyegbeni Sparks Controversy Over Salah's Goals Record

Former Super Eagles’ striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni sparked controversy on Sunday when he took a swipe at analysts for celebrating Mohammed Salah’s new reocrd number of goals by an African player in the English Premier League, megasportsarena.com reports. ‘The Yak’ opted to be defiant when asked for comments after seeing Salah hit a hat-trick in Liverpool’s 5-0 demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford, as the Nigerian legend wondered why he is also not being celebrated. Although Aiyegbeni, who struck 95 goals in the English Premier League, admitted that Salah and his Liverpool teammate, Sadio Mane are top rate players that are making Africa proud, he told BBC Sport Africa, he insists he also deserves lots  of accolades. The hoopla came after Salah became the top-scoring African in EPL history, on a day the icon from Egypt started the day level with Chelsea and Ivory Coast legend, Didier Drogba, who got 104 goals over two spells with the London club. As Salah became the first away player to score an EPL hat-trick away to United, the 29-year-old Egyptian not only broke Drogba’s record, he also went clear on 107 goals. Salah, who also has a previous affiliation with the European champions, has become one of the Premier League’s most prolific forwards since joining Liverpool from Italians Roma in 2017. Dubbed the ‘Egyptian King’ by Liverpool fans, Salah netted 19 goals as the Reds ended their 30-year wait for a domestic top-flight title last year. The 29-year-old, a two-time BBC and African footballer of the year, also opened the scoring as the Anfield side beat Spurs to win the Champions League in 2018-19. In his four full seasons on Merseyside, Salah has not dipped below 15 league goals, a level of consistency which has swiftly lifted him up the African Premier League scoring chart. He initially moved to England in January 2014, joining Chelsea from Basel, but only scored twice in 13 league outings for the Blues before two loan spells in Italy. Drogba’s goals helped Chelsea end a 50-year wait for a league title and re-establish themselves as one of England’s top clubs following Roman Abramovich’s takeover, following which he won three league titles in his first spell, and a fourth following his return to Stamford Bridge. Yakubu sits fifth on the list of all-time African goalscorers in the Premier League, just behind Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor’s 97 for Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Crystal Palace. The Nigerian featured for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn Rovers over a nine-year period, and believes his record stacks up favourably considering his club’s comparatively lower standings. Yakubu, who got 25 of his 95 goals in the Premier League for Everton, stressed: “I’ll still remain one of the top strikers from Africa, no matter if those guys score more than 100 goals. Don’t forget they played for some of the biggest clubs in England. “To score 15, 17 goals in Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn is big as well. If you can get 15 goals in a season as a striker in England, it’s a great season for you. “For me, it’s an honour to score that many goals. I got injured and didn’t play for one year. If I had, I would’ve scored more than 100. I had chances to do it, but the time was right for me to leave, so I went to China.”