Brighton & Hove Albion attacker Leandro Trossard has joined an exclusive crowd of players with his hat-trick in Saturday's 3-3 draw with Liverpool.
The Seagulls took the pitch under Roberto De Zerbi for the first time at Anfield, and Trossard had the travelling fans in dreamland with two strikes in just 17 minutes.
The Belgium international latched onto Danny Welbeck's ball to fire home the opener inside four minutes, and he made it two for himself not long after receiving the ball from Solly March.
A sluggish Liverpool finally lit the blue touch paper when Roberto Firmino pulled one back before the half-time break, and the Brazilian completed his brace in the 54th minute before Adam Webster's own goal gave the Reds the lead.
However, Jurgen Klopp was left frustrated once again, as Trossard was allowed acres of space at the back post to complete his hat-trick with 83 minutes on the clock and rescue a point for Brighton.
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In doing so, the 27-year-old has become only the third player ever to score a hat-trick against Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League.
The first player to take home the match ball from the red half of Merseyside was Peter Ndlovu, whose hat-trick won the game for Coventry City in a 3-2 triumph back in March 1995.
Fourteen years later, Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin would register his unforgettable four-goal haul at Anfield in a 4-4 draw, and Trossard has become the next player to achieve the three-goal feat after 13 years.
The former Genk man now has five goals and two assists to boast from an impressive start to the new season, and manager De Zerbi revealed after the game that he had challenged Trossard to provide more of a goal threat.
"When he was in the national team I sent a message to him and I told him he needs to increase the number of his goals and I think he made me happy!" De Zerbi told BBC Sport.
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"A crazy game. I am happy and proud for my players and my club. There was a possibility to win the game but Liverpool is a fantastic team. I knew before the game it could be difficult and it was very difficult.
"Of course the point for us is really important because Liverpool at the end of the day is Liverpool but we had a lot of chances to score the goals and if we had won the game I wouldn't have felt like we had stolen anything here.
"We have to learn how to improve with the ball possession and to increase our ball speed and it is up to us to decide it. It is really hard to control the game in the Premier League - only Manchester City is doing that. Our target is to start to control much more of the game."
Trossard has now totalled 23 goals and 13 assists in 111 appearances for Brighton since arriving in 2019, and the Seagulls have maintained their grip on fourth place in the table after fighting back to draw on Merseyside.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have slipped down to ninth - being leapfrogged by Newcastle United after the Magpies thumped 10-man Fulham 4-1.
Ben Knapton
