Lautaro Martinez blows Osimhen away in race for Golden Boot

Inter’s Lautaro Martinez has broken a Serie A record to create a wide gap between himself and Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen in the race for the 2023/24 Italian Golden Boot. 

Martinez came off the bench to score four times as Inter hammered Salernitana 4-0 in the final Serie A game on Saturday, as they reclaimed the top spot in the Serie A table after a momentary lapse that ended their perfect start to the new season. 

The Argentine World Cup winner came on in the 55th minute against Salernitana, with the match tied at 0-0, and gave a performance of epic proportions, scoring in the 62nd, 77th, 85th, and 89th minutes. 

With his quartet of goals, Martinez became the first player in the three points for a win era to score four goals as a substitute in the Serie A. 

Martinez reached a milestone that had not been achieved by any player on record in the Serie A since 1993 and also leapt into a significant lead at the top of the league’s goalscorer’s chart for this campaign. 

The Inter forward’s heroics have now seen him score a total of nine goals in seven games in the 2023/24 season, four more than the league’s second most prolific player, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. 

Martinez and Osimhen were locked in a spirited battle for the Serie A Golden Boot last season, which the Nigerian won, but the Napoli man will now have to work extra hard to meet up with Martinez’ current season form.