Ghana-domiciled Emmanuel Adebayor struck a hat-trick as Istanbul Basaksehir got their Turkish Super Lig title challenge back on track and severely damaged that of Galatasaray with a 4-0 win on Monday night.
Adebayor, who moved to the Turkish Super Lig in January, bagged his first hat-trick in six years on Monday night, destroying the giants of Turkish football.
After being released by Crystal Palace in June of last year, many expected that the 33-year-old’s best days to be behind him but the Togo international reminded us all of his deadly finishing in the Istanbul derby.
It was the first time Adebayor had bagged three goals in a game since his spell at the Bernabeu in 2011, where he scored a hat-trick during Real Madrid’s 8-1 thumping of Almeria.
A draw with Karabukspor and defeat to Akhisar Belediyespor saw Basaksehir slip eight points adrift of leaders Besiktas, but Adebayor closed the distance to five at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.
The Togo international, who lives in Ghana, got off the mark 11 minutes in with a simple finish into a gaping net from Marcio Mossoro's square pass after Gala failed to clear, and he added a second on the stroke of half-time.
Former Arsenal, Manchester City and Real Madrid striker Adebayor rose to meet Junior Caicara's wicked right-wing delivery, guiding his header in off the underside of the crossbar.
The 33-year-old completed his hat-trick with an opportunistic 57th-minute header as Gala's defence stood idle after Edin Visca's shot looped up off goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Adebayor, whose Super Lig tally now stands at five goals in as many appearances, made way for Mustafa Pektemek and the substitute rounded off the scoring four minutes from time.
Pektemek raced onto Mahmut Tekdemir's pass in behind the defence, beating Muslera to it as he rushed out of his box to intervene before showing composure to dribble into the area, commit Aurelien Chedjou and fire home.
Gala now sit fourth, 12 points adrift of Besiktas with seven games remaining, making a 21st domestic title extremely unlikely.
Watch videos of Adebayor's goals below:
Adebayor'un golü (Başakşehir 1-0 Galatasaray). pic.twitter.com/Y1UIFrLu2V
— kargamedia (@kargamedia) April 10, 2017
@E_Adebayor goal pic.twitter.com/Z7HJvVXqDZ — 228Exclu (@228excluTogo) April 10, 2017
Remember Adebayor? he has just scored twice within 45 minutes against Galatasaray. Classic Ade goal as well! @oluwashina @garyalsmith pic.twitter.com/K5fsb3VtpC
— Turkish Football (@Turkish_Futbol1) April 10, 2017