When you're a bit short on goals, one way of silencing your critics is by scoring three times in just over six minutes.
And that's exactly what Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah did on Wednesday evening as the Reds ran out 7-1 winners against Rangers in the Champions League group stage.
The Egyptian didn't even get onto the pitch until the 68th minute, replacing goalscorer Darwin Nunez, but his impact was devastating. Bringing the ball down in the box and holding off a defender before toe-poking the ball home for his first goal with quarter of an hour to go, Salah followed it up five minutes later with a controlled curling effort from the edge of the area for his second, before wrapping up his treble with a trademark cut in from the right, resulting in a left-foot finish that bent into the bottom corner.
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By completing his three goal return in a remarkable six minutes and 12 seconds, Salah broke the record for the fastest ever hat-trick in Champions League history. The previous record had stood for over 11 years, after Bafetimbi Gomis scored a treble in eight minutes for Lyon, in a 7-1 win against Dynamo Zagreb on July 12, 2011.
After that, you have to go as far back as Mike Newell's three goals in nine minutes for Blackburn Rovers against Norwegian side Rosenborg in 1995.
Salah also become only the third player in Liverpool's history to score a hat-trick after coming on as a substitute, after Steve Staunton against Wigan Athletic on October 4, 1989 and Steven Gerrard against Napoli on November 4, 2010. But despite setting a new Champions League record, the number 11's achievement isn't even the quickest hat-trick in Liverpool's history.
That title belongs to Robbie Fowler, who put three past Arsenal back on August 28, 1994 in a ridiculous four minutes and 33 seconds. They were the only goals in the game, as the Reds ran out 3-0 winners against the Gunners in a match televised live on Sky Sports.
As a result, Fowler broke the record for the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, but remarkably even that has now been broken, and by a former Liverpool player - albeit he wasn't one when taking the crown.
The Toxteth Terrier's record stood for over 20 years until Sadio Mane went one better. Still playing for Southampton at the time, Senegalese Mane destroyed Aston Villa on May 16, 2015 with an unbelievable hat-trick in just two minutes and 56 seconds. Unsurprisingly, that record still stands to this day.
It seems unlikely that Mane's phenomenal record will be broken any time soon, but if Salah can hit another treble in 90 minutes against Manchester City on Sunday, few will be complaining about records at Anfield.
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