Getafe CF may be inside the bottom three of LaLiga Santander, sitting 18th in the very tight relegation battle that has seven teams separated by just three points, but Los Azulones have good reason to believe they'll escape the drop zone before the end of the season.
They boast firepower in attack in the form of Enes Ünal, who is now the joint-second-top scorer in the Pichichi charts with 12 goals, the same as RCD Espanyol's Joselu and just three fewer than Pichichi leader Robert Lewandowski.
In Ünal's case, he has raced towards the top of these standings in recent weeks, as eight of his 12 league goals this season have come in the 10 matches played since the start of the 2023 calendar year.
Four of them have arrived in the past two matchdays, as he netted twice in his side's 3-2 victory over Girona FC in Matchday 24, before scoring two penalties to earn Getafe CF a 2-2 draw at Cádiz CF in the opening game of Matchday 25. The 25-year-old kept his cool to convert the second of those spot kicks on Friday night. Even though there was so much pressure on his shoulders, with his team trailing and with 106 minutes on the clock, he fired his strike confidently beyond the reach of goalkeeper Jeremías Ledesma to earn his side a point. "He takes responsibility and manages penalty situations really well," his coach Quique Sánchez Flores said afterwards.
Over the past couple of seasons, Ünal has accepted responsibility and become the leader of the Getafe CF attack. Los Azulones have a young attacking trio, with the Turkish international working alongside Borja Mayoral and Munir El Haddadi, but Ünal is the youngest of the three. He is, however, very experienced and has already made 188 appearances in LaLiga Santander, having represented Villarreal CF, Levante UD and Real Valladolid before joining Getafe CF in 2020.
His first season at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez was a difficult one, with Ünal only scoring four league goals in 2020/21. But, he then netted 16 times to help Getafe CF pull off an incredible comeback in the standings last season, with the team ultimately finishing 15th and with the striker joint-fifth in the Pichichi charts. This year, he already has 12 goals, so is on course for an even better tally.
With his finishing in front of goal, Ünal is also closing in on Getafe CF's all-time record for first-division goals. That record is currently held by Manu del Moral, who netted 37 times for the club at LaLiga Santander level, while Ángel Rodríguez is second with 36. But, Ünal is already on to 32 top-flight strikes, despite having played far fewer games than the other two. With his brace on Friday, he climbed on to the podium for this stat, overtaking the 31 goals scored by teammate Jaime Mata in Spain's top division.
Enes Ünal is in good company
Not only is Ünal becoming a leader goalscorer in the context of Getafe CF, but he is one of the most in-form forwards in all of Europe right now. He has the fourth-most league goals in 2023 of all players in Europe's top five leagues, level with Manchester United's Marcus Rashford and only behind the nine goals of Monaco's Wissam Ben Yedder and the 10 goals of Lille's Jonathan David and Napoli's Victor Osimhen.
Looking just at LaLiga Santander players, the Getafe CF man is three goals ahead of the next-best scorers this calendar year. Sevilla FC's Youssef En-Nesyri, RCD Espanyol's Martin Braithwaite and Athletic Club's Oihan Sancet each have five goals since the turn of the year, but it's Enes Ünal who is currently in the best scoring form in Spain's top division.
