Aston Villa midfielder Marc Albrighton has taken the distinction of being the first player to score the 20,000th Premier League goal.
Marc Albrighton achieved this record in the midweek match against Arsenal. Even though Aston Villa lost the match at the last, Marc Albrighton has been rewarded with his achievement by allowing him to donate £ 20,000 to charity of his choice.
The previous landmark of 15,000 goals in the Premier League was achieved in December 2006 by Martin Votz of Fulham. Les Ferdinand was the another player to create this kind of record back in 2001 when he scored the 10,000th goal while playing for Tottenham.
Aston Villa started the match against Arsenal brightly, but could not cope with the quality of Arsenal. Aston Villa were coming on the back of the 2-1 demoralising loss at the hands of Liverpool at Villa Park. As a result of it, the crowd were extremely displeased with manager Alex McLeish and his negative tactics. However, they would have seen enough to confirm that Aston Villa are indeed more than decent this season. Robin van Persie scored the penalty to put Aston Villa behind the match, but Marc Albrighton equalised with this historic goal.
However, he was unable to prevent Yossi Benayoun from scoring with a few minutes remaining on the clock from a corner. “It’s a brilliant occasion and a brilliant feeling to have got that record. It’s something that I can tell the kids and the grandkids about. The Barclays Premier League is one of the greatest leagues in the world, if not the greatest, so to score the 20,000th goal is a great honour," Marc Albrighton said after the match. He has decided to give the amount to Acorns Children's Hospice Trust, who will be paid on behalf of Barclays.