Konstantinos Mavropanos is now two goals clear as the top scoring centre-back in Europe’s top ten leagues after netting once again for West Ham United in their 6-0 shellacking of Lincoln City on Wednesday night.

The Hammers took a while to get going against nine men but, on the stroke of half-time and with the home side already having suffered two sendings off, the Greek giant converted a Jarrod Bowen corner to finally break Lincoln’s resistance.

In doing so, West Ham United’s joint-top scorer not only kept the pace with Bowen on five goals apiece, he also firmly established himself as the most lethal central defender in the top-ten ranked leagues in European football

West Ham United’s Dinos Mavropanos is Europe’s top-scoring centre-back

Mavropanos’ tally of five puts him two clear of Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos on three. Rafal Augustyniak is actually his closest contender at the moment, having scored four times in the Polish Ekstraklasa for Legia Warsaw this term.

“Let’s try and keep building momentum,” Nuno told the reporters at full-time after West Ham followed up a poor first-half with a rampant second, Mavropanos’ opener lighting the fuse.

“Before that first goal, we got anxious and were in a rush and it’s not the best way to deal with it. It requires patience because Lincoln were with everybody behind the ball.

“There were no gaps, it required circulation and then the final moment to score. We saw good things today, good things. We saw positives in the players just scoring and assisting. All these individual actions, it’s important in terms of the team, in terms of confidence.”