Olakunle Olusegun scored the quickest goal the Russian Premier League has ever seen
Nigerian winger Olakunle Olusegun scored the fastest-ever goal in Russian Premier League history when the Krasnodar star struck after less than nine seconds of the match against Rostov on Sunday.
The referee had only just signaled the start of the game when Olusegun latched onto a stray pass from a Rostov rival, driving towards the edge of the penalty box and brilliantly curling a right-footed strike into the bottom corner.
Russian Premier League officials later confirmed that the goal was timed at 8.9 seconds – eclipsing the previous record set by another Nigerian, former Spartak Moscow forward Emmanuel Emenike, who struck 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, although Alexey Bychkov is also known to have scored for Shinnik Yaroslavl in the ninth second of a Russian Football Championship match in 1999.
The goal from the 20-year-old Olusegun gave Krasnodar the perfect start against their southern Russian rivals on Sunday, and they appeared in control when Colombian Jhon Cordoba doubled their lead in the 31st minute.
But the hosts – managed by Russian national team coach Valery Karpin – mounted a stirring second-half comeback, scoring three times in the space of 25 minutes to earn a 3-2 win as Krasnodar were hindered by a red card for Brazilian defender Kaio in the 57th minute.
The victory kept Rostov second in the Russian Premier Liga table on 25 points, five points behind Zenit St. Petersburg after 12 rounds of matches.