Olakunle Olusegun scored the fastest goal the Russian Premier League has ever seen
Nigerian winger Olakunle Olusegun scored the fastest goal in Russian Premier League history when the Krasnodar star scored after less than nine seconds of the match against Rostov on Sunday.
The referee had just signaled the start of the game when Olusegun latched onto a deflected pass from a Rostov opponent, drove to the edge of the penalty area and fired a brilliant right footed shot into the bottom corner.
Russian Premier League officials later confirmed that the goal was timed in 8.9 seconds, eclipsing the previous record set by another Nigerian, former Spartak Moscow striker Emmanuel Emenike, who scored in the 10th second of a match against Alania in the 2012/13 season.
Those stats cover the history of the Russian Premier League, which was founded in 2001, though Alexey Bychkov is also known to have scored for Shinnik Yaroslavl in the ninth second of a Russian soccer championship game in 1999.
20-year-old Olusegun’s goal gave Krasnodar the perfect start against their southern Russian rivals on Sunday, and he appeared to be in control as Colombian Jhon Cordoba doubled their lead in the 31st minute.
But the hosts, led by Russian national team coach Valery Karpin, mounted a stirring comeback in the second half, scoring three times in the space of 25 minutes to earn a 3-2 victory when Krasnodar was hampered by a red card for Brazilian defender Kaio in the 57th minute.
The victory kept Rostov second in the Russian Premier League table with 25 points, five points behind Zenit St. Petersburg after 12 match days.
Krasnodar sits fifth in the standings with 21 points after suffering a third loss of the current campaign.
Rising star Olusegun joined Krasnodar from Bulgarian outfit Botev Plovdiv on a permanent deal earlier this year, and so far this campaign he has scored five times and provided two assists in 12 appearances in all competitions for Krasnodar.