Bukayo Saka’s stunning season has come to a spell-binding end as he netted a hat-trick inside 13 minutes for England.
The Arsenal star’s first came on 38 minutes as he fired into the roof of the net with his right foot to put England 2-0 up in their Euro 2024 qualifier against North Macedonia.
He then scored twice inside the opening six minutes of the second half with his second an effort rifled into the top left-hand corner of the net from outside the box after latching onto a pinpoint long ball by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“He hits a shot which is just unstoppable. Absolute brilliance. A top quality finish,” England legend Stuart Pearce said on commentary for talkSPORT.
And moments later he completed his hat-trick as he collected Harry Kane’s through ball before slotting the ball home.
Saka’s third on Monday night was a landmark moment for the 21-year-old as he netted the first treble of his professional career.
His goal saw England race to a 5-0 lead with Harry Kane opening the scoring before Marcus Rashford made it 3-0 on the stroke of half time.
Gareth Southgate’s men weren’t done there as substitute Kalvin Phillips made it 6-0 with a tap-in on 64 minutes.
Kane then got his second and England’s seventh nine minutes later with a penalty after John Stones was hauled down in the North Macedonia box to seal a 7-0 thumping.
Another three goals for Saka but his second was definitely the pick of the bunch and the Arsenal man revealed it was in the planning with Liverpool star Alexander-Arnold.
“At half time I spoke with Trent about the pass he was going to do and I just had that feeling he was going to do it and I went,” Saka told talkSPORT.
“He played a perfect pass, I didn’t have to break my stride or anything, touched it down and went for the volley and it went in the top corner so I was buzzing.
“He’s a pleasure to play with because he’s always looking forward, he’s always looking for us when we run in behind.
“Today he played with me and Rashy [Rashford], who are constantly making runs, so he’s a player we enjoy playing with.”
