Wednesday 8 April 2015 13:17, UK
Christian Benteke’s hat-trick for Aston Villa in their 3-3 draw with QPR on Tuesday did salvage a point for his team, but manager Tim Sherwood was still left frustrated not to be leaving with all three. We look at the hat-trick heroes who were denied a victory to go with the match-ball…
Benteke was the 16th player in Premier League history to bag a hat-trick but not win the game. It's the ultimate test of the old cliché for the striker who claims it’s all about the lads getting the right result rather than individual glory.
Four men have even managed to end up on the losing side despite netting a hat-trick for their side. Sky Sports’ own Matt Le Tissier even did it twice. Here’s the list of heroes denied maximum glory…
Christian Benteke, ASTON VILLA 3-3 Queens Park Rangers, April 2015
Benteke struck twice in the first half to give Villa a 2-1 lead at the break but had to add a third late on just to claim a point against fellow strugglers QPR at Villa Park. Benteke claimed afterwards that he was a little disappointed despite the achievement.
Romelu Lukaku, WEST BROM 5-5 Manchester United, May 2013
Sir Alex Ferguson’s final game in charge of Manchester United produced an outrageous 5-5 draw at The Hawthorns. The champions were three goals up with 10 minutes remaining but Lukaku added his second and third of the game to cap a crazy afternoon.
Somen Tchoyi, Newcastle 3-3 WEST BROM, May 2011
There would have been no mixed feelings for Tchoyi when he sparked this stunning comeback for West Brom against Newcastle in 2011. The Magpies were 3-0 up at St James’ Park before the Cameroon international hit a second-half hat-trick for the visitors.
Andrey Arshavin, Liverpool 4-4 ARSENAL, April 2009
Arshavin is the only player in Premier League history to score four goals in a game and still not end up on the winning side. In only his eighth league game since joining Arsenal, the Russian produced a stunning individual performance only to see Yossi Benayoun scramble home in stoppage time to equalise for Liverpool.
Roque Santa Cruz, Wigan 5-3 BLACKBURN, December 2007
The most recent player to lose a Premier League game in which he’d scored a hat-trick, Santa Cruz couldn’t even claim the match-ball for himself in this one as Marcus Bent scored one of his own for Wigan. And that after Santa Cruz had hauled Blackburn level from 3-0 down.
Paul Kitson, Charlton 4-4 WEST HAM, November 2001
Kitson scored the opening goal of the game before twice equalising for West Ham in a remarkable game at The Valley. Although Kitson claimed the match ball, he had to endure the disappointment of seeing Jonatan Johansson score a last-gasp equaliser – after he’d been substituted.
Dean Windass, BRADFORD 4-4 Derby, April 2000
Both clubs were fighting for survival when they met and Bradford must have feared the worst when they were 2-0 down inside six minutes. But a Windass hat-trick helped them into a 4-3 lead by the break only for Derby to equalise with 10 men. Incredibly, Bradford then won three of their remaining four games to stay up anyway.
Darren Huckerby, Leeds 3-3 COVENTRY, April 1998
Huckerby twice equalised goals by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the first half before giving Coventry the lead shortly after the hour mark. Harry Kewell denied the visitors the points at Elland Road but Huckerby’s performance wasn’t forgotten – he signed for Leeds the following year.
Michael Owen, Sheffield Wednesday 3-3 LIVERPOOL, February 1998
Liverpool’s boy wonder had become the youngest England international of the 20th century just three days earlier and celebrated with a hat-trick to salvage a point for Liverpool at Hillsborough. Having already equalised once, he scored twice late on to deny Sheffield Wednesday victory.
Dennis Bergkamp, Leicester 3-3 ARSENAL, August 1997
Bergkamp scored one of the great Premier League hat-tricks in an early season game at Leicester in 1997. Two fine goals set the scene before the Dutchman latched onto a long pass, beat his man and finished superbly to cap a wonderful performance. However, there was still time for a stoppage-time equaliser by Steve Walsh.
Dwight Yorke, Newcastle 4-3 ASTON VILLA, September 1996
Yorke gave Aston Villa the lead early on at St James’ Park but a hat-trick seemed unlikely by early in the second half with his team 3-1 down to Newcastle and down to 10 men. Yorke did manage to get there, albeit in a 4-3 defeat.
Fabrizio Ravanelli, MIDDLESBROUGH 3-3 Liverpool, August 1996
Ravanelli announced his arrival at Middlesbrough with a famous hat-trick in their opening-day draw with Liverpool at the Riverside Stadium. The man known as the White Feather equalised three times for his new club but the season was to end in unique disappointment – two cup final defeats and relegation.
Dion Dublin, Sheffield Wednesday 4-3 COVENTRY, December 1995
When it comes to frustrating hat-tricks, Dublin’s efforts against Sheffield Wednesday in 1995 must be right up there. The Coventry forward had given Coventry the lead on three separate occasions and seen his goals cancelled out each time before Mark Bright scored the winner for the Owls.
Matt Le Tissier, SOUTHAMPTON 3-4 Nottingham Forest, August 1995
Le Tissier started the 1995/1996 season in style with a hat-trick but found himself on the losing side nevertheless. The Southampton hero scored with two trademark penalties before levelling things up at three apiece only for Bryan Roy to come up with a winner for the visitors at The Dell.
Alan Shearer, Leeds 3-3 BLACKBURN, October 1993
Shearer scored 31 times in the 1993/94 Premier League season and three of them came at Elland Road. The England striker looked to have claimed the points when he completed his hat-trick with a quarter of an hour remaining, but the home side pulled one back before Tim Sherwood’s late own goal delivered a blow to Rovers’ title push.
Rod Wallace, Coventry 3-3 LEEDS, May 1993
With both teams safe on the final day of the inaugural Premier League season, there was little to play for at Highfield Road but the home fans would still have been left frustrated by Wallace’s late show. Coventry led 3-1 in the final moments but Wallace scored twice more for 10-man Leeds to complete his hat-trick.
Matt Le Tissier, Oldham 4-3 SOUTHAMPTON, May 1993
Le Tissier is the only man to appear twice on this list and was the first to have the dubious honour of scoring a Premier League hat-trick and still being on the losing side. On the final day of the season, Oldham raced into a 4-1 lead in a game they needed to win to stay up but Le Tissier certainly had them worried when he pulled two back to complete his hat-trick.
