Dries Mertens surpassed Diego Maradona’s Napoli goalscoring record

Dries Mertens now has more goals than Diego Maradona in Napoli colours.

Dries Mertens scored two goals to help Napoli win 3-2 against Salzburg in a Champions League encounter in Austria on Wednesday. The two goals took Mertens’ Napoli goals tally to 116, which is one more than Argentina great Diego Maradona.

Diego Maradona has 115 goals for Napoli. Mertens is now second on the list with 116 goals. Marek Hamsik, former Napoli captain who now plays for Dalian Yifang in China, is on top of that list with 121 goals. But the way Mertens is playing it’s not long before the 32-year-old gets to the top of that list.

Mertens said after the match: “I’m delighted with these two goals because it earns me a place in Napoli’s record books, something I’ve very proud of.
I’ve overtaken Diego, who’s the all-time idol of this city, and now I hope to catch Marek, who is five goals away. I haven’t said anything to Marek but I hope to overtake him soon, maybe by Christmas.”

“This achievement is obviously a personal joy for me but also for the team because I always put Napoli’s result before me. It was important for us to start winning on the road again as it’s a great morale boost.”

Napoli head coach Carlo Ancelotti told Sky Sports Italia: “It’s a great night for him, for us. We fought hard. It was a fascinating match and we stayed focused for 90 minutes. It’s a great result.
We started strong, took the lead, struggled a little and then got it back under control. Those who came off the bench gave an excellent contribution and it’s a wonderful night for everyone.”

The 32-year-old Dries Mertens arrived at Napoli in 2013 from PSV. He is currently in his seventh season at the club. His best season in front of goal for Napoli was the 2016-17 season. He scored 28 times in Serie A and added 6 more goals in cup competitions.

Mertens has already scored 3 goals in this season’s Champions League. He has also scored in Napoli’s 2-0 win over Liverpool last month. Napoli are on top of Group E, one point ahead of Champions League holders Liverpool.

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