Evan Ferguson joins exclusive group after scoring hat-trick versus Newcastle United

Evan Ferguson has joined an exclusive group of goalscorers after netting a hat-trick in Brighton & Hove Albion's 3-1 home victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

The 18-year-old capitalised on Nick Pope spilling the ball inside the penalty area to fire home the opener on the 27-minute mark before curling a stunning second goal from around 25 yards into the far corner midway through the second half.

Ferguson then completed his hat-trick five minutes later when his left-footed effort took a wicked deflection off the extended leg of Fabian Schar before nestling into the bottom-right corner.

Callum Wilson pulled one back for the Magpies in the second minute of stoppage time, but it was the Seagulls who soared to their third victory in four Premier League matches.

Ferguson has now scored four goals in as many top-flight appearances this season after also finding the net on the opening weekend of the campaign in a 4-1 home win over Luton Town.

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The Republic of Ireland international has now contributed with 10 goals and two assists since making his Premier League debut in February last year, becoming just the second non-English players in the division's history to register at least 10 goal involvements aged 18 or younger after Cesc Fabregas.

Ferguson is also one of only four players to have ever scored a Premier League hat-trick aged 18 or younger after Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Chris Bart-Williams.

The Brighton striker's hat-trick was one of three Premier League trebles recorded on Saturday along with Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min – only the second time that three different players have scored at least three goals on the same day after Fowler, Alan Shearer and Tony Yeboah all scored three on September 23, 1995.

Ferguson's treble has helped propel Roberto De Zerbi's side up to fourth in the Premier League table, sitting on nine points after four games and three points behind current league leaders and reigning champions Man City.

Speaking to Match of the Day after the match, Ferguson said: "It's a good day. The first goal is a striker's thing, you have to be ready. Luckily it fell to me and I could get it in.

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"The second one, we talked about me having a bit more time than I thought in the first half. So in the second half I thought I would get it and turn and tried to run at the defence and get a shot off so then luckily it went in and it all worked out.

"The third one, it was good to get it in off the mark. People are going to say it was a deflection but we're going to count it.

"It's an unbelievable feeling [to get his first senior hat-trick for Brighton] and it's good to bounce back after last week and get the three points.

Asked about scoring a hat-trick on the same day as Haaland and Son, Ferguson added: "It's not bad company to be in with them boys. Obviously Haaland's record last season and Son has been doing it for a number of years so it's good company to be in."

Ferguson will be looking to continue his scoring form when he represents the Republic of Ireland in challenging Euro 2024 qualifiers against France and Netherlands next week.