MADRID :Atletico Madrid striker Alexander Sorloth scored four goals inside 30 minutes, including the fastest hat-trick in LaLiga history, in a 4-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Saturday.
The Norwegian forward completed his treble in the opening 11 minutes, the earliest ever in the competition, before adding a fourth goal to seal the rout on the half-hour.
Atletico, who are out of the title race, sit third on 70 points, nine adrift of leaders Barcelona and five behind Real Madrid who face off in a potential title decider on Sunday.
Real Sociedad have not won any of their last five league games and are 12th with 43 points.
Atletico, who were held to a 0-0 draw at relegation-threatened Alaves last weekend, took the lead after seven minutes when Sorloth scored after a long pass by Pablo Barrios.
The 29-year-old doubled the advantage three minutes later with a strike from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
He got the record-breaking third a little over 60 seconds later with a close-range effort into the roof of the net.
Sorloth’s hat-trick was four minutes faster than Edmundo Suarez’s in 1941 and Carles Bestit’s in 1929.
However, the striker did not stop there and made it 4-0 when he received the ball from Javi Galan on the edge of the box and paused to control it before slotting home.
Sorloth became Atletico’s leading scorer in LaLiga this season with 17 goals, two more than in-form striker Julian Alvarez who was suspended.
The Norwegian previously scored four goals in a match in May last year, helping former team Villarreal hold champions Real Madrid to a 4-4 draw when it took him 56 minutes.
Sorloth also hit the bar from near the penalty spot early in the second half as Atletico continued to dominate, with Sociedad now having failed to score in three straight league games.
