Former Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom scored a brace on Saturday to go even further clear as the Championship’s top goalscorer.

Chuba Akpom was the star of the show for Middlesbrough on Saturday, scoring two goals and arguably deserving another.

The former Arsenal striker opened the scoring against Blackpool with an excellent finish, cutting inside before deftly lifting a shot into the top corner.

Akpom was then very unlucky not to be awarded a penalty for what looked like a clear foul later in the half.

But the centre-forward wasn’t to be denied his second goal, finishing a well-worked move from close range after a one-two with Riley McGree.

You can watch the highlights here, with the opening goal at 0:28, the penalty incident at 0:49, and the second goal at 1:30.

Akpom’s brace takes him to 16 league goals for the season, well ahead of the closest competition – Viktor Gyokeres (Coventry City) and Oscar Estupinan (Hull City) with 12 goals each.

Those goals have been a huge boost for Middlesbrough, who have risen from 21st place at the end of October to 3rd place at the start of February.

Though automatic promotion to the Premier League still looks unlikely, a play-off run is very much on the cards right now.

For Akpom individually, this is already easily his best goalscoring season. His previous record was 11 goals in all competitions, but he’s already at 17 for the current campaign, including one against Premier League Brighton in the FA Cup.

The former Gunner is hitting his stride with Middlesbrough after a tricky start to life with the club. He’ll hope the season ends with a return to the Premier League, eight seasons after he last featured in the competition with Arsenal.