Despite Federico Dimarco’s outrageous goal stealing the show for Inter against Frosinone, Hakan Calhanoglu once again proved indispensable in midfield, as he dictated play in an effortless manner. His penalty goal in the second half was the icing on the cake in the Nerazzurri’s 2-0 victory, with Juventus awaiting Inter next in the Derby d’Italia.
With his strike, Calhanoglu broke a 70-year-old record, becoming the highest scoring Turkish player in Serie A history. With 37 goals, Calhanoglu surpasses another Turkish icon in Sükrü Gülesin, who starred for Palermo across two spells, with a one-year stint at Lazio sandwiched in between.
#Calhanoglu è il miglior marcatore turco all-time della Serie A. Superato #Gülesinhttps://t.co/f78CDIDf4C
— Alfredo Pedullà (@AlfredoPedulla) November 12, 2023
Gülesin scored an impressive 36 Serie A goals for the Rosanero and the Biancocelesti between 1950 and 1953. However, that record has been broken by Calhanoglu over a six-year period – twice the time Gülesin took.
Calhanoglu has proved priceless for Inter since signing from rivals Milan on a free transfer two years ago. And, the manner in which he took over the tag as Serie A’s top-scoring Turk is poetic nonetheless, with a penalty. No other player is as clinical as Calhanoglu from the spot-kick since his arrival in Italy, converting all 14 strikes he has taken for both the Milan clubs, with 11 of them arriving in the league. Ironically, his first penalty goal for Inter was against his former club Milan back in 2021.
5 – Hakan #Calhanoglu has scored the most goals from penalty kick in the Big-10 European Leagues 23/24 (5 so far): he has converted all the 9 penalties he taken for Inter in Serie A. Safety.#InterFrosinone
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 12, 2023
Moreover, his decision against opting to move to Saudi Arabia despite the big money on offer was welcomed with pride by the Nerazzurri. Calhanoglu has concretely grown into one of Simone Inzaghi’s most reliable players in a three-man midfield.
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |