Top 5 off the bench hat-tricks in Football

A hat-trick is a tremendous individual achievement for a football player. The amount of joy and satisfaction brought by scoring three goals in a single match is enormous. Rarely do we see someone score a hat-trick in football, but to score three goals off the bench is simply extra-ordinary. Here we look at five of the best hat-tricks scored by players coming off the bench.

5) Emmanuel Adebayor against Derby County 2008

Emmanuel Adebayor has travelled all around the world in his career, but undoubtedly his most successful run came at Arsenal. Derby, who were already relegated, were punished by an in-form Arsenal. The star for Arsenal was the man who came off the bench at half-time and scored a hat-trick – Emmanuel Adebayor. Arsenal were leading 2-1 at half-time, when Adebayor came on for the injured Robin van Persie. Adebayor scored his first goal in the 59th minute, when he tapped in a Theo Walcott cross at the far post. Derby again got one back and tried to be in the game, but Walcott’s goal and then another Adebayor goal in the space of two minutes made it 5-2 in favour of Arsenal. The Togo striker completed his hat-trick, when he ran around the Derby keeper and got his 30th goal of the season.

4) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against Nottingham 1999

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s performance against Nottingham forest is considered as one of the best ever in Manchester United history. United were comfortably winning 4-1 when Dwight Yorke was replaced by Solskjaer in the 72nd minute of the game. His first goal came in the 80th minute, when he side-footed Gary Neville’s cross from two yards out. Eight minutes later, Solskjaer was played in by Beckham behind Nottingham’s defence, and he found the back of the net after rounding off the keeper. Solksjaer completed his hat-trick in style as his wonderfully hit right-footed volley beat the Nottingham keeper. But that was not all. Solksjaer struck again in injury-time, as Paul Scholes’ mis-cued shot came straight to the United forward, who slotted the ball in the back of the net for his fourth. United crushed Nottingham 8-1, as Solskjaer scored four goals after coming on from the bench.

3) Steven Naismith against Chelsea 2015

Champions last season, Chelsea were again considered the team to beat this season. But their poor start to the season has been shocking. Jose Mourinho has been put under immense pressure by the media, but the fans still trust the special one. Roberto Martinez named Muhamed Besic ahead of Naismith in the starting line-up. But the former, pulled up with a hamstring injury and had to be substituted. On came Steven Naismith, and what an introduction he proved to be. He opened the scoring guiding a header into the top corner, beating Begovic in spectacular fashion. Naismith scored his second with a spectacular left foot finish from outside the box, as Ivanovic failed to offer any resistance to the shot. Matic pulled one back for Chelsea, Everton continued to play better football in the second half, and were rewarded handsomely when Naismith scored his third. This was a right foot finish, completing a perfect hat-trick – a header, a left-foot finish and then a right-foot finish.

2) Romelu Lukaku against Manchester United 2013

It was a big day in United’s history, as it was the last match for Alex Ferguson as their manager, and his 1500th game in charge of the club. Manchester United went 3-0 up inside just 30 minutes of the match, and looked set for victory. But West Brom pulled a goal back before half-time, and Romelu Lukaku’s introduction at half-time turned the game inside out. Lukaku scored his first at the 50th minute mark, with a wonderfully struck long range shot, beating a struggling Lindegaard easily. United scored two more after that and raced to a 5-2 lead. But Lukaku’s goal with 10 minutes remaining in the game made it interesting. Mulumbu got another a minute later and made it 5-4. United continued to defend desperately, but five minutes later Lukaku completed an incredible hat-trick, and snatched a point for West Brom against United.

Robert Lewandowski is in terrific form at the moment. The Polish striker has scored 15 goals in his last six matches, and has equalled the record for most goals in a Euro qualifying campaign, scoring 13 goals in 10 games. This run of prolific goal scoring form was started by his wonderful performance against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga this season. Bayern Munich were losing 1-0 at half-time when Lewandowski came on as a substitute. The fact that he didn’t start the match was in itself a bit shocking, but the forward proved that he is not a player who likes to sit on the bench. Lewandowski scored five goals inside nine minutes of the game, turning the match in the German champions’ favour. Bayern manager Pep Guardiola stated after the match, “I am very happy for Robert. For his confidence and our future this was extremely important. I can’t really understand it. Five goals. Neither as a coach nor as a player did I ever experience something like this and I can’t really explain it. Five goals against Wolfsburg are never easy.”