Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez continues to surprise. The CONCACAF 2015 Player of the Year continues to shine in Europe, scoring a brace for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga against Hannover Saturday.
The former super-sub turned super-starter at the German club is in great form, scoring his 13th goal in the league out of 16 appearances, demonstrating his importance to the German club and highlighting the reason why big clubs are looking to sign him during the winter transfer window.
32 year old, Stefan Kiessling, opened the scoring for Leverkusen before Chicharito added a brace later on. The first from the spot after Stefan Kiessling worked his way within the box only to be upended by Hiroki Sakai. Chicharito made no mistake from the spot. Nestling a beautiful shot in the right corner of the net past Ron-Robert Zieler. It was a great penalty from the El Tri star.
Chicharito Brace
Chicharito dispelled any criticisms that his playing style is only that of a poacher with his second goal. Kevin Kampl fed Hernandez a wonderful pass on the left side of the field, leaving him to do the rest. Hernandez made it 3-0 for Leverkusen and scored his 13th goal after a wonderful step over to open space to the left and slot in a shot past Zieler.
With Chicharito’s help, Leverkusen has gone up to 4th in the league table, into the Champions League spots. Chicharito now has 21 goals in all competitions this season. The brace also lifted the Mexican international to 4th place in the top Bundesliga scorers, seven goals away from the number one spot held by Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre Aubemeyang.