Messi, Defoe, Shearer, Cole, Greaves and other five-star performers
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Following Lionel Messi’s impressive five-goal haul against Leverkusen in the Champions League, talkSPORT has searched the archives to find other players who have scored as many goals in one game as Fernando Torres ‘boasts’ in his entire Chelsea career. But first, we kick off with some Messi magic…
LIONEL MESSI V BAYER LEVERKUSEN, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16, 7 MARCH 2012
For those who didn’t see Messi’s wonder show, his five strikes showed a range of his delightful skills. The little Argentinian weighed in with two superb and very different chips, a dribble through a couple of Leverkusen defenders before hitting the bottom corner, a ‘tap-in’ from an acute angle and a long-range stunner. In scoring five times, Messi became the first player to do so in the Champions League, as well as moving within seven goals of the all-time Barcelona scoring record.
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ANDY COLE V IPSWICH, PREMIER LEAGUE, 4 MARCH 1995
Manchester United sent Ipswich packing in 1995 with their 9-0 drubbing a Premier League era record win that still stands today. Grabbing the headlines was Andy Cole, who gave a masterclass in poaching and six-yard box play. With his hat-trick secure just after half-time, Cole’s final goal was arguably the pick of the bunch; an excellent swivel and shot leaving Craig Forrest to pick the ball out of his net for the ninth and final time that day.
OLEG SALENKO V CAMEROON, WORLD CUP GROUP B, 28 JUNE 1994
On a glorious afternoon in San Francisco, Russian striker Oleg Salenko cemented his place in the history books by becoming the only player to score five goals in a World Cup finals match. Salenko’s five-star performance was a high point for the Russians, who were already out of the tournament going in to this game, following defeats by Brazil and Sweden. As if scoring five wasn’t enough for the striker, Russia's sixth goal in a 6-1 victory came via his assist.
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ALAN SHEARER V Sheffield Wednesday, PREMIER LEAGUE, 19 SEPTEMBER 1999
For Sir Bobby Robson, who was managing his first home game for the Magpies, winning 8-0 wasn’t a bad way to start. Five of the strikes came from captain Alan Shearer and two of them were penalties, but that doesn’t take anything away from Al’s quintet of goals - just five of many others scored at his beloved St James’ Park.
ALAN BRAZIL V Southampton, (OLD) DIVISION ONE, 16 FEBRUARY 1981
talkSPORT's very own Alan Brazil boasts an Ipswich Town club record with his five goals in a league game against Southampton in the early 1980s. Unfortunately there isn’t any footage of the Sports Breakfast presenter continually hitting the onion bag, but we can tell you it was a pretty successful season for his team. Following their thrashing of the Saints, Ipswich went on to finish runners-up to Liverpool in the league and bagged the UEFA Cup with a 5-4 aggregate win over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
MALCOLM MCDONALD V CYPRUS, EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER, 16 APRIL 1975
While the video of Messi destroying Leverkusen is great, this one of ‘Super Mac’ adding the final touch to all five goals in a thrashing of a woeful Cyprus side is typical ‘English centre forward’ stuff. McDonald poaches his goals from close range and the only one not with his head he mis-kicks. But still, nobody else can boast of scoring five for the Three Lions at Wembley. Also, look out for a wonderful clearance attempt from one of the Cypriot defenders when number four goes in.
FABRIZIO RAVENELLI V CSKA SOFIA, UEFA CUP, 27 SEPTEMBER 1994
Heading towards the end of Juventus’ UEFA Cup clash with Bulgarian side Sofia, the ‘Old Lady’ were leading 1-0 thanks to Fabrizio Ravanelli’s first half strike. All of a sudden, the ‘White Feather’ took the game by the scruff of the neck and banged in four goals in the final ten minutes of the game to put the tie beyond doubt.
Dimitar Berbatov V BLACKBURN, PREMIER LEAGUE, 10 NOVEMBER 2010
It wasn’t even two years ago when Berbatov was a regular fixture in the United team, banging the goals in consistently on the way to winning (well, sharing) the Premier League Golden Boot. A quarter of his strikes that season came in this demolishment of Rovers at Old Trafford, but some of the defensive errors from Blackburn made things far too easy for the intricate Bulgarian that day.
Jermain Defoe V Wigan, PREMIER LEAGUE, 22 NOVEMBER 2009
On a cold wintry afternoon at White Hart Lane, Spurs had thoroughly dominated the opening period against Wigan, but found themselves winning by just the single goal, thanks to Peter Crouch. With Harry Redknapp’s screams ringing in their ears, the Tottenham team came back out and put on a master showing after half-time, with Defoe netting a seven minute hat-trick before the hour mark. He then added two more, but was disappointed not to bag a ‘double hat-trick’ as Spurs racked up a 9-1 win.
JIMMY GREAVES V Wolves, PRESTON AND West Brom, FIRST DIVISION, 1958, 1959 AND 1960
While all the players on this list can be applauded for their five goal performances, Jimmy Greaves’ hat-trick of five goal hauls is truly remarkable. The then Chelsea striker notched five in top level matches in successive seasons between 1958 and 1960, with Wolves, Preston and West Brom all on the receiving end of his trusty goalscoring boots.
Words by Joe McPhee