In a weekend of rollercoaster Premier League football, there is little doubt that one of the stand out incidents came via the actions of Argentinean forward Sergio Aguero. In a game that saw Newcastle United mauled in Manchester, the Citizen’s main man thumped in an astonishing five goals. Not quite in nine minutes like Mr. Lewandowski, but none the less he became only the fifth player in Premiership history to amass such a tally in a single game.
Such a feat is immensely admirable, so it is fitting that we should look through all the players to have pulled off such a performance. They may not have quite stretched to a double hat trick but here are the elite five to hit five in a BPL match since the competition’s inauguration in 1992:
1. Andy Cole, Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town (4/3/1995)
Andy Cole
It’s no surprise that the game that has held the record for the largest ever Premier League winning margin for twenty years saw someone bag a hat trick, plus two. Only two months into his Red Devils career and English league legend Andy Cole would write himself into the history books. In a ninety minutes that saw an Ipswich blood bath on the Old Trafford turf, Roy Keane, Mark Hughes (2) and Paul Ince also found the net.
Cole bagged his first before the half hour by diverting a low Ryan Giggs cross past Craig Forrest for 2-0 before tapping home for his second on the rebound after Hughes hit the bar with a bicycle kick. A forceful header at the back post found the net for the hat trick and Cole sealed his fourth with a left foot finish into an open goal. The rout was wrapped up with number five as the ex-Newcastle striker buried a volley in the six-yard box from a corner.
Ipswich Town were well and truly battered.
2. Alan Shearer, Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday (19/9/1999)
The Premier League’s leading goal scorer with 260, his closest rival is a gargantuan 70 net busters in his wake, Alan Shearer. It is fitting that the league’s greatest ever striker is one of the elite five and he did so in a brutal butchering of Sheffield Wednesday. The Owls have yet to feature in the Premiership since and incredibly it proved Shearer’s eleventh and last BPL hat trick.
Shearer ignited the romping by getting in front of his defender and flicking home into the far corner with a deft outside of the boot finish. The second came from the penalty spot as the Geordie sold the keeper the wrong way and smuggled home his hat trick with a scrappy close range finish under pressure. Wednesday’s goalkeeper’s day went from bad to worse as he flapped at a weak cross from the Newcastle wing only for his mistake to be pounced upon by Shearer who passed into the open goal.
Number five came from twelve yards as Shearer kept typically cool from the penalty spot, whipping the ball into the side netting and deceiving the keeper once again.
3. Jermaine Defoe, Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic (22/11/2009)
An entire decade after Shearer hit a high five; another Englishman in the form of Jermaine Defoe broke the drought as he put a fragile Wigan side to the chopping block. Having already scored a hat trick earlier in the season at the KC stadium, Defoe went two better at White Hart Lane with a nine-goal rout. Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon, an own goal and Niko Kranjcar were the other scorers in the joint-second largest margin of victory in the BPL.
Despite only leading 1-0 at half time, the floodgates opened after the break as Defoe made it 2-0 by deflecting Lennon’s cross into the top corner with his right boot. The pint sized forward thumped a hard shot from a one-on-one for his second and then grabbed a treble via a close range volley from another Lennon delivery. A six minute hat trick was topped by another ruthless one-on-one and Defoe found the bottom corner from a defensive error for five.
After the game, the 5’ 7.5” hit man even emphasised his disappointment in not reaching a double hat trick!
4. Dimitar Berbatov, Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers (27/11/2010)
Dimitar Berbatov
Next on the list is the icy nerved Bulgarian that is Dimitar Berbatov and his ever-casual approach to top class football. In a season that saw United win their nineteenth title and Berbatov score further hat tricks against Liverpool and Birmingham, the pinnacle was undoubtedly the obliteration of Blackburn. In a match dominated by Berbatov, the only two others to find the net came in the form of Nani and Park Ji-Sung.
The tireless work of Rooney saw the English forward lay the ball on a plate for Berbatov who met his flick-on in clinical style to open the scoring. A suicidal back pass from Pascel Chimbonda saw the Bulgarian through on goal and the forward made no mistake, firing home past Paul Robinson for a brace. Making space in the area, Berbatov converted a slide rule Nani cross for three before thundering it home from five yards out for four.
The cherry on the cake came late on as ‘Berba’ slotted home from a title angle after his original effort was blocked. Even the ice cool Bulgarian couldn’t believe it.
5. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City 6-1 Newcastle United (3/10/2015)
The third five star performance to take place in Manchester but this time at the home of City and not under the floodlights of Old Trafford. Argentina’s Sergio Aguero wrote his name into the history books as the latest player to strike five, as Newcastle were confined to rock bottom of the table despite having taken the lead. In a game that simply proved the ‘Aguero Show’, Kevin de Bruyne was the only other City player to find the net.
After scoring only once in the Premiership going into the game, Aguero exercised his demons when lunging in with a close range header for 1-1. City took the lead when Aguero’s left footed strike found the net via a Gouffran deflection before a deft chip finish made it a treble. An immaculate curling finish nestled in the black netting from the edge of the area before a tap in at the back post completed the dream Saturday for Aguero.
There’s no doubt that many more players will hit five in one game in the future of the Premier League, but it must be said, it’s one hell of an exclusive club!
Kobe
YJA Senior Sports Correspondent
