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Which Nigerian player has scored the most hat-tricks in Premier League history?
Erling Haaland's recent hat-trick for Manchester City in a 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town marked his seventh in the Premier League, putting him in the pantheon of the league’s goal-getters, but which Nigerian players can also lay a claim to a seat at the big boys’ table?
Nigeria boasts several players who have made their mark in the Premier League, and out of the 43 countries with players who have achieved this feat, Nigeria ranks a remarkable eighth.
These Super Eagles stars have helped Nigeria become one of the most revered in the Premier League with their hat-tricks.
Efan Ekoku
Before winning the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, Efan Ekoku became the first Nigerian player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, and he did so in spectacular fashion.
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On September 25, 1993, Ekoku not only scored three goals but went one better, netting four times as Norwich City thrashed Everton 5-1 at Goodison Park, becoming the first player in Premier League history to score more than three goals in a single game.
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Ekoku would become a reference for Nigerian football in England, and his contribution to Norwich, where he scored 16 goals in 38 Premier League appearances, was later recognised with his induction into the club’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
Nwankwo Kanu
Super Eagles legend Nwankwo Kanu delivered one of the most memorable hat-tricks in Premier League history during his spell with Arsenal.
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In the 1999/00 season, Kanu scored three goals in just fifteen minutes to lead the Gunners to a stunning 3-2 comeback victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after initially going 2-0 down.
His hat-trick, which included an audacious strike from the edge of the penalty box, made him the first visiting player to score three goals at Chelsea's home ground and quickly earned him a place as one of the most loved players in Gunners’ history.
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The Nigerian forward enjoyed an illustrious time at Arsenal with 44 goals in 198 Premier League appearances, helping the Gunners to two Premier League titles in six years.
Osaze Odemwingie
Osaze Odemwingie joined West Bromwich Albion in 2010 and quickly made his mark in the Premier League, becoming a cult hero for the Baggies in his short spell at the club.
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His standout moment in a West Brom shirt came in February 2012 when he scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 demolition of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Black Country derby.
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That performance earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award for February 2012, and Odemwingie went on to score 30 goals in 86 Premier League games for West Brom before moving to Cardiff City in 2013.
Kelechi Iheanacho
Senior man Kelechi Iheanacho is the most recent Nigerian to score a Premier League hat-trick after the then-Leicester City forward netted three times in a 5-0 victory over Sheffield United in March 2021.
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His performance that month earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award, and the Nigeria international enjoyed a fabulous season, helping Leicester finish just outside the top four in the league while also claiming the FA Cup.
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Iheanacho’s 2020/21 season was the most prolific of his career, with 12 Premier League goals and 19 goals in all competitions.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Yakubu Aiyegbeni holds the title of the most prolific Nigerian goalscorer in Premier League history, with 95 goals to his name.
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Yakubu scored hat-tricks for three of the four clubs he played for in the Premier League, and his first hat-trick came as part of a four-goal haul for Portsmouth in a 5-1 win over Middlesbrough on the last day of the 2003/04 season.
He followed this up with another hat-trick for Portsmouth in a 4-3 win against Fulham in August 2004 before netting his third hat-trick in the Premier League for Everton in a 3-0 victory over Fulham in 2007.
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Yakubu’s final hat-trick came in December 2011, when he scored four goals for Blackburn Rovers in a 4-2 win against Swansea City.
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