Aston Villa had won all four of their previous matches this season and had not even been behind in a game. But against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United they found the going tougher. Patrick Bamford's maiden Premier League hat-trick saw him write himself into the record books as Leeds United ran out winners against the team which shocked the Champions Liverpool at Villa Park.
Patrick Bamford was never dubbed as the man to fit in the style of the Premier League. The critics reckoned Aston Villa were about to climb to the top of the table for the first time in 9 years. All those people were made to eat their humble pie as Leeds ran Villa ragged here and clinched victory thanks to a wonderful hat-trick by their center-forward, Bamford.
It was a wonderful display of style and substance from Bielsa’s side at Villa Park. They pressed, ran with the ball with some grace and the search for goals continued even when the lead was enough to nail the opponent. It was a collective effort in a theatre without music. Sadly there were no fans present at the stadium to witness such a football display live.
That sent Marcelo Bielsa’s team to third place in the table and took Bamford’s tally for the season to six goals from six league games. His previous 27 matches at this level had yielded just one, and his strike rate in the Championship was patchy.
It marked only the second competitive hat-trick of the forward's career, having notched his first just over two years ago against his current club for Middlesbrough, and saw him join a select group of legends including Eric Cantona and Gordon Strachan in achieving the feat in the Premier League for the Whites.
Bamford also saw his haul match multiple club records, becoming only the second player to score in each of their opening three away games in a top-flight league season after Gordon Hodgson managed the same in the 1937-38 campaign.
In addition, Bamford became the first Leeds player to score more than once in an away Premier League match since both Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell notched three and two respectively in a 6-1 drubbing of Charlton Athletic in April 2003.
His six goals across the first half-dozen games of a Premier League season meant that he further equaled Cantona's achievements from the 1992-93 season, matching the Frenchman's long-standing record - and he has helped United to match the record for most goals by a newly promoted club across the same opening period, matching Middlesbrough from the same campaign.
Bamford also became only the fifth player to score an away hat-trick at Villa Park, following in the footsteps of Chris Sutton (1997-98), Robbie Fowler (1998-99), Gareth Bale (2012-13), and Sergio Aguero (2019-20).
It caps a remarkable start to the campaign for the former Chelsea-man and former England youth international, whose run of form might impress Gareth Southgate.
Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 24/10/2020 Patrick Bamford ends Aston Villa’s unbeaten run
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