Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick as Trabzonspor thrashed Galatasaray 4-0 in the Turkish Super Lig on Saturday.
Salah opened the scoring in the fourth minute, racing clear before calmly slotting the ball past Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.
The Egyptian then turned provider in the 39th minute, setting up Nuh Saviolo to double Trabzonspor’s advantage.
Salah struck again just before half-time, scoring in the 44th minute to give the hosts a commanding 3-0 lead at the break.
He completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute, curling the ball into the bottom corner after breaking clear of the Galatasaray defence.
The emphatic victory was also helped by Galatasaray’s late dismissal, with Lesley Ugochukwu shown a straight red card in the closing stages.
PUNCH Online reported that Ugochukwu was sent off for Galatasaray in the 87th minute, after the referee reviewed the incident on VAR and upgraded his yellow card to a straight red.
By then, all four goals had already been scored — Salah’s hat-trick in the 4th, 44th and 80th minutes and Noah Saviolo’s goal in the 39th. So Galatasaray were already 4-0 down when Ugochukwu was dismissed.
The result moved Trabzonspor up to seventh in the Turkish Super Lig standings, while Salah took his league tally to six goals for the club this season.
Earlier in the season, the match was billed as a potential Nigerian-vs-Egyptian African star showdown in the Turkish Super Lig, but Osimhen was absent through injury.
Meanwhile, Galatasaray remained top of the Turkish Super Lig despite the heavy defeat, staying on 13 points after six matches, while Trabzonspor moved up to fifth with 10 points following the victory, PUNCH Online reported.
Credit: punchng.com
