Take a bow, Patson Daka
Patson Daka broke the record for the fastest hat-trick in Europa League history as Leicester came from two goals down to win away at Spartak Moscow.
Brendan Rodgers’ side secured a vital victory in the Europa League to take them above their opponents into second in Group C.
The Foxes were under serious pressure to get three points after accumulating just one point from their opening two fixtures – having drew 2-2 with Napoli and lost 1-0 to Legia Warsaw.
It was a nightmare start for the away side who went behind in the 11th minute when Aleksandr Sobolev’s shot snuck past Kasper Schmeichel at his near post following a heavy deflection off Boubakary Soumaré.
Things went went from bad to worse for Leicester when Victor Moses dispossessed Caglar Soyuncu on the right-hand side of the Foxes penalty area – his quick-thinking allowed him to square the ball for Jordan Larsson, who made no mistake by slotting the ball past Schmeichel.
🔥 Deadly Daka 🔥
Patson Daka is the first Leicester player to score four goals in one European game! ✨#UEL pic.twitter.com/VrHHH5nzyV
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 20, 2021
However, Rodgers’ men were handed a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when Daka – who signed for the Foxes from Red Bull Salzburg for £22million in June – made the most of Kelechi Iheanacho’s clever through ball to place the ball past the on-rushing goalkeeper.
The striker grabbed his and Leicester’s second in the 48th minute when Iheanacho selflessly squared to ball to Daka following a smart pass from Luke Thomas.
Leicester were then ahead when the Zambian International bagged his third just six minutes later, with his first hat-trick for the club also breaking the record for the fastest hat-trick in Europa League history – which was previously held by Keșerü.
As Spartak pushed forward in attack, Youri Tielemans broke forward and found Daka, who composed himself before rolling his third under the on-rushing Maksimenko.
The 23-year-old wasn’t finished scoring though as he provided the Foxes with a two-goal cushion with a near-identical strike to his hat-trick goal with just over 10 minutes to go.
The hosts did pull a goal back to make it 4-3 when Moses set up Sobolev for his second of the night, but the English side were able to hold out and secure a memorable European victory.
Daka became the first Leicester player to score four goals in one European match as Rodgers’ men gave themselves a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League.
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