Sorloth makes history with rapid four-goal haul
Alexander Sorloth scored the fastest hat-trick in LaLiga history in a four-goal haul as Atletico Madrid cruised to a 4-0 rout of Real Sociedad.
The host's number nine did the damage inside the opening half an hour as he notched a quickfire quadruple at Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
Sorloth broke the deadlock after just seven minutes with a superb volley from Pablo Barrios's deep cross, while drilling home his second goal from the edge of the box shortly after.
The Norwegian completed his historic hat-trick in the 11th minute, firing into the roof of the net after Sociedad failed to deal with another cross from the right.
Sorloth made it four on the half-hour mark from Javi Galan's lay-off after a swift counter, while the crossbar denied him a fifth goal from a fierce volley shortly after the restart.
Substitute Angel Correa also went close with Alex Remiro denying him in stoppage time, but it only prevented the scoreline getting worse as Atleti eased to victory and another clean sheet.
Atleti boss Diego Simeone lauded Sorloth's versatility after his remarkable four-goal haul.
"I was very happy with the team's first half in general. Alex, of course, is a whole different matter," Simeone said.
"He had a fantastic night, especially those first 45 minutes, where he decisively finished every ball that came his way.
"That allowed us to take control of the game and take it to a place we never imagined possible before the game started."
Despite becoming Atleti's leading scorer in the league this season with 17 goals, Sorloth has started only 13 top-flight games this season.
"If we go by the numbers, he's scored more goals coming on in the second half – except for today, obviously," Simeone said.
"What I like about him is that he's important in every moment and context of the game you can imagine.
"If we need to attack, he gives us a strong offensive weight in the area. If we counter-attack, he has good passing for that. And if we're closed down and have to defend, his physicality gets us out of uncomfortable situations.
"He's playing the game the team needs and is making the most of his football and his goalscoring."
Sorloth, who joined Atleti from Villarreal last August, gave credit to his team-mates for contributing to his clinical performance.
"The balls were falling at my feet, my team-mates were giving me really good passes," he said after putting one of his old clubs to the sword.
"I'm very happy. I hope to be in LaLiga for many more years and have more games like this. I struggled to get the season off to a good start.
"In October and November, I started to improve. Now my team-mates know me better.
"It was the same situation as last season when I scored four goals against Real Madrid and had a shot hit the post. Today was like a flashback."
