Beljo tops Europa League scoring charts as Dinamo climb to ninth
Dinamo Zagreb striker Dion Drena Beljo is the joint top scorer in the Europa League after his fourth goal in the 2-0 win at Sunderland, while the Croatian champions sit ninth in the table with seven points.
Illustration: AI-generated image
Dion Drena Beljo has joined NEC Nijmegen forward Bryan Linssen at the top of the Europa League scoring charts after netting his fourth goal of the campaign in Dinamo Zagreb's 2-0 win over Sunderland on Thursday evening.
The 24-year-old Croatian striker struck in the 39th minute at the Stadium of Light, latching onto a pass from Luka Stojković who had earlier put Dinamo ahead. UEFA's official website now lists both Beljo and Linssen as the leading scorers in the competition with four goals each.
Beljo has been in red-hot form, scoring all four of his European goals in Dinamo's last three Europa League matches. He opened his account with a dramatic 96th-minute penalty against Anderlecht on 15 October, then added a brace in the 4-2 home defeat by NEC a week later before his latest strike in England.
Since joining Dinamo from Augsburg last summer in a €4 million transfer, Beljo has now scored 56 goals and provided 14 assists in 67 appearances for the club. This season alone, he has 18 goals and 8 assists in 19 matches across all competitions.
Dinamo's victory at Sunderland lifted them to ninth place in the Europa League table with seven points from four games, level on points with Beşiktaş, Levski Sofia, Sunderland, NEC and Lyon. The top eight teams after the league phase qualify directly for the round of 16, while those placed ninth to 24th enter a knockout playoff round.
With four matches remaining, Dinamo are well placed to progress. According to the Football Meets Data simulation model, the Croatian champions have an 82% chance of finishing in the top 24 and an 8.7% chance of securing a top-eight spot. They will face Bayer Leverkusen at home on 26 November, Rennes away on 10 December, AZ Alkmaar away on 21 January and Sturm Graz at home on 28 January.
Last season, Dinamo finished 23rd in the league phase with 10 points, eventually losing to Genk in the knockout playoff. They have already matched seven points this term and will look to build on this strong start to reach the business end of the competition.
