BERLIN (AP) — Forget Harry Kane, the hottest forward in the Bundesliga right now is Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy.
The Guinea forward scored a hat trick in Stuttgart’s 3-1 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday, taking his tally to 13 goals in only seven league matches. It also erased any concerns of a barren patch after he failed to score in his previous game.
No other player has ever so scored so many goals at this stage in the league.
“It’s a good one, because we know a lot of very good players played in the Bundesliga, (Robert) Lewandowski, so many players,” Guirassy said. “I’m happy with this record but this means nothing for me because, like I say, I take (it) game by game. We want to win games, fight. Of course, it’s difficult. Every Bundesliga game is difficult.”
Guirassy’s form has helped Stuttgart make a strong start to the season with only one loss and six wins from its opening seven games. It also won its opening German Cup game against fourth-division club TSG Balingen in August. Guirassy scored then, too.
Kane, who joined Bayern Munich for a Bundesliga-record 100 million euros ($106 million) in the offseason, has eight Bundesliga goals so far, three of them from penalties.
Stuttgart had to dig deep to beat Wolfsburg after falling behind to a strike from Yannick Gerhardt in the first half. Guirassy equalized with a penalty in the 67th, rounded the goalkeeper to score his second goal in the 78th, and then stayed cool to complete his hat trick five minutes later.
Guirassy grabbed the ball after the game and said he would get his teammates to sign it before he brought it home.
“We have to fight like we did today, and I hope we can continue like this,” the 27-year-old player said.
Stuttgart’s form this season is all the more remarkable because the team was fighting relegation when coach Sebastian Hoeneß took over in April.
Just one loss in its remaining eight games last season earned Stuttgart its place in the end-of-season relegation-promotion playoffs, where the team clinched survival with wins over Hamburger SV, which had finished third in the second division.
“Serhou is, of course, the figurehead of the success at the moment,” Hoeneß said, “but there are others who have contributed significantly to this, on and off the field.”
Chris Führich is one. The 25-year-old midfielder scored two goals and set up five more, and was rewarded with his first call-up for Germany last week. Führich is part of the squad that will play the United States in East Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday, and Mexico in Philadelphia four days later.
Guirassy, who was born in Arles, France, to parents from Guinea, has already scored more league goals than he did last season — or any season before.
He joined French club Lille in 2015 and spent the second half of that season on loan at second-division team Auxerre, where he scored eight goals.
Cologne signed the player in 2016, but his goals couldn’t prevent the team’s relegation from the Bundesliga in 2018. Guirassy scored two goals in Germany’s second division before returning to France in January 2019 to join Amiens.
Guirassy then joined Rennes in 2020, scoring the team’s first Champions League goal, and finishing with 24 in all competitions before joining Stuttgart — initially on loan — last year.
Guirassy’s recent goal-scoring exploits are sure to bring the attention of other clubs, but Hoeneß is certain the increased fame will not have any affect on the player.
“He’s a respectable, normal guy who keeps things in perspective,” Hoeneß said. “There’s no danger of it getting to his head.”
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
