The fastest hat-trick in UEFA history
By scoring three goals in 3 minutes and 25 seconds, Gift Orban, a young player from La Gantoise, set a new record for the fastest hat-trick ever scored in a European competition.
UEFA (the European Football Union) has voted Gift Orban of La Gantoise as "Player of the Week" in the Conference League after scoring a hat-trick in just over three minutes against Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir in the second leg of the Round of 16.
The Nigerian, who arrived in Ghent this winter, scored the first three goals of the Buffalos' 4-1 victory over the Turkish team, scoring the fastest hat-trick in the history of all European competitions in 3 minutes and 25 seconds.
After a start dominated by the Turkish side, Ghent started to settle down and move into the opponent's camp at around the half-hour mark. It was then that the visiting Belgian team set off a real fireworks display, as between the 31st and 37th minutes, the Buffalos scored four goals, including Gift Orban's historic hat-trick (31': 1-0, 32': 2-0, 34': 3-0).
That made three goals for the Nigerian scoring machine in under four minutes, in 205 seconds to be exact. The Ghent striker has now scored 12 goals in 9 matches in all competitions combined since his debut for the Belgian club on 11 February!
In addition to La Gantoise, the teams of Union Saint-Gilloise and Anderlecht, who qualified against Union Berlin (Germany) and Villareal (Spain) respectively, are also continuing their European journey after brilliantly reaching the quarterfinal stage.
It has been more than two decades since Belgian clubs were this successful in European competitions!