Premier League

Premier League top scorers 2020/21: Kane beats Salah and Bruno to win Golden Boot

It went down to the final game, but the Tottenham forward has replaced Jamie Vardy as the highest scorer in England's top flight.

 
12:52am on Monday 24th May 2021
By
Team FC

Harry Kane has seen off the challenge of Mohamed Salah and topped the standings to win the Premier League Golden Boot for 2020/21.

A thrilling race ended on Sunday as Kane scored in a 4-2 victory for Tottenham at Leicester City.

Salah, meanwhile, did not find the target as Liverpool nonetheless defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 to secure Champions League football.

Bruno Fernandes, Son Heung-min and Patrick Bamford were the players who got closest to Kane and Salah, who battled it out for much of the campaign.

The race for a place in the Premier League top four went down to the last week of the season and so did the battle for Golden Boot glory, with Kane and Salah sitting level on 22 going into the final match.

Liverpool forward Salah was on a run of five goals in six Premier League starts as he finished impressive individual campaign with a flourish, but crucially did not net against Burnley or Palace in the final week.

Tottenham striker Kane, meanwhile, did not net against Aston Villa prior to his crucial strike at Leicester and wins the Golden Boot even though he has scored just twice since netting a double in a 2-2 draw against Everton on April 16, his exploits earlier in the season proving crucial.

Kane finishes with 23 goals, one clear of Salah on 22.

Man Utd star Fernandes finished his campaign by scoring twice - against Aston Villa and Liverpool - in his last three Premier League games, ending a run where he had scored just once in eight top-flight matches.

But Fernandes was rested for the last game at Wolves ahead of the Europa League final and finishes five off the pace with 18 strikes, while Son and Bamford both end up on 17.

READ MORE: Where do Salah and Kane rank in the European Golden Shoe?

Kane and nearest rival Salah were both looking to be crowned the top scorer in England for a third occasion.

The England captain has now been named top scorer in the Premier League as many times as Alan Shearer (three), with only Thierry Henry (four) achieving the feat on more occasions.

Last year’s Premier League Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy was among the chasing pack this season, as were Ilkay Gundogan and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

READ MORE: Champions League all-time top scorers

We have taken an in-depth look at the final standings for the players who have the most goals in the EPL.

2020/21 Premier League top scorers

2020/21 EPL top goalscorers

PositionPlayerTeamGoals
1Harry KaneTottenham23
2Mohamed SalahLiverpool22
3Bruno FernandesMan Utd18
4Patrick BamfordLeeds17
5Son Heung-minTottenham17
6Dominic Calvert-LewinEverton16
7Jamie VardyLeicester City15
8Ollie WatkinsAston Villa14
9Alexandre LacazetteArsenal13
10Ilkay GundoganMan City13
11Callum WilsonNewcastle12
12Danny IngsSouthampton12
13Chris WoodBurnley12
14Kelechi IheanachoLeicester City12
15Wilfried ZahaCrystal Palace11
16Marcus RashfordMan Utd11
17Gareth BaleTottenham11
18Sadio ManeLiverpool11
19Matheus PereiraWest Brom11
20Pierre-Emerick AubameyangArsenal10

Since the start of 2021, Kane saw his chances of finishing as the European Assists King slip away. However, he has continued to score at a prolific rate throughout the season until that small late dry run in front of goal caused a tense finale.

Despite a tough season for Spurs which led to the sacking of Jose Mourinho, the England captain has scored 23 goals from 35 top-flight matches, all of which were starts.

The Everton game last month saw Kane pass the 20-goal mark in the Premier League for the fifth time.

Salah has had an impressive individual season despite Liverpool being unable to defend their Premier League title.

The Egypt star has 22 goals in 37 appearances, having started in 34 of those.

Scoring against Newcastle on April 24 meant Salah became the first Liverpool forward in Premier League history to score 20 goals in three separate seasons.

READ MORE: Who has the most assists in Europe?

Strikes against Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Man Utd and West Brom for Salah meant he challenged Kane until the end, having overcome a five-match top-flight scoring drought that had at one stage thwarted his Premier League Golden Boot chances.

Fernandes has impressed in the Premier League and Europa League of late but recaptured his scoring touch too late in the context of this award, with goalless league outings against Tottenham, Burnley and Leeds last month ending his hopes.

The second Tottenham representative Son, who scored the winner for Spurs against Southampton before his latest goals against Sheffield United and Leeds, finishes just one behind Player of the Year candidate Fernandes after enjoying a fine campaign.

Son has reached double figures for league goals and assists in consecutive seasons.

Bamford reached the same goal total in fewer minutes than Son, having scored for Leeds against Southampton and West Brom in their last two games, while Calvert-Lewin rounds out the top six with 16 goals for the campaign.

Alexandre Lacazette has 13 goals for Arsenal, 10 of which came since Boxing Day, while Gunners captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was only able to move into double figures in the 2-0 win over Newcastle on May 2.

READ MORE: Which team has had the most penalties in Europe this season?

Gundogan is the top Man City scorer with 13 goals, while Chelsea do not have any players in the top 20.

Jorginho was their top scorer with just seven goals and amazingly they all came from the penalty spot.

Jesse Lingard was on the leaderboard with nine goals for the season – all scored since February as his loan spell with West Ham from Man Utd got off to a fine start.

He was named Premier League Player of the Month for April, though finished the season by going six games without a goal, meaning he lost his spot in the top 20 in the last week.

There are 27 players who have reached double figures for goals in the Premier League standings.

Who are the past winners of the Premier League Golden Boot?

Premier League Golden Boot winners

SeasonPlayerTeamGoals
2019/20Jamie VardyLeicester City23
2018/19Salah/Mane/AubameyangLiverpool/Arsenal22
2017/18Mohamed SalahLiverpool32
2016/17Harry KaneTottenham29
2015/16Harry KaneTottenham25
2014/15Sergio AgueroMan City26
2013/14Luis SuarezLiverpool31
2012/13Robin van PersieMan Utd26
2011/12Robin van PersieArsenal30
2010/11Berbatov/TevezMan Utd/Man City20

The record for most goals in a season is shared by Alan Shearer (1994/95) and Andy Cole (1993/94).

Both players scored an astonishing 34 goals, though the season was longer then – Shearer did it in 42 matches and Cole in 40.

Mohamed Salah came close to that record in 2017/18, scoring 32 times in 36 outings, producing the best Premier League goalscoring season for 13 years.

The Golden Boot winner with the best goals per game ratio is Harry Kane.

England’s captain netted 29 times in just 30 games to win the 2016/17 title, averaging 0.97 goals per game.

Arsenal and Liverpool have had the most Premier League Golden Boot winners, with six each. Man Utd have had five while Tottenham and Chelsea are on four.

There are only three players who have scored the most goals in the EPL more than twice.

Shearer won the Golden Boot three times, once with Newcastle and twice with Blackburn Rovers.

Thierry Henry holds the record, though, having been named the top scorer in the Premier League on four occasions for Arsenal.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez have both won the award, scoring 31 goals in 2007/08 and 2013/14 respectively.

The Premier League began from the 1992/93 season.

Prior to that, Ian Wright was the last highest goalscorer in England when it was the old First Division.

Gary Lineker and Alan Smith were also winners in the 1990s before the league was rebranded.

Premier League: Player stats including appearances, goals and assists

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