Mo Salah scripted history in the Champions League match between Liverpool and Rangers. He scored the fastest hat-trick ever and guided Liverpool to a 7-1 victory at Ibrox.
The 30-year-old came on in the second half on Wednesday when his team was leading 3-1. He set a stunning benchmark for hat-trick with just six minutes and 12 seconds.
Bafétimbi Gomis previously held the record from 2011. He had taken eight minutes to complete his hat-trick in a 7-1 win for Lyon against Dinamo Zagreb.
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But Salah smashed that time with his stunning feat, walking away with the match ball in Glasgow and putting the seal on a confidence-boosting win for Liverpool, which is in a strong position to advance to the round of 16.
With Manchester City to come in the Premier League on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp hopes the victory will be a turning point for his team after such an unconvincing start to the season. "The goals we scored were exceptional," he said.
"It's a night where things worked out for us. It changes the mood definitely, and that's good. We all know who is coming on Sunday. That will be different, but it's better to go in with the feeling from tonight."
When Salah poked in a fourth for Liverpool from a tight angle in the 75th minute, it served as a notice of what was to come.
Five minutes later, he curled in another from the edge of the area and almost immediately completed his hat-trick with another clinical strike.
"They punished us with the attack they have," Rangers coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst said.
"In the last 25 minutes, we weren't in the game, not with our heads, not with the decisions we made. Against a team like Liverpool, you get punished."
Liverpool is second in Group A with 9 points with two games remaining. Napoli leads with 12 points and advanced to the round of 16 by beating Ajax 4-2 earlier on Wednesday.
(Inputs from PTI)
