Sebastien Haller scored a hat-trick inside seven minutes just days after he made his Borussia Dortmund return following his battle with cancer.
The former West Ham striker, 28, returned to training last week after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in July, having recently joined Dortmund from Dutch champions Ajax in a €31million (£27.4m) deal. Bravely facing the illness, Haller underwent surgery and chemotherapy during the autumn before rejoining his teammates for their training camp in Marbella.
After making his emotional return on Tuesday in a friendly with Fortuna Dusseldorf, Haller emphatically marked his second substitute appearance with a seven-minute hat-trick against Basel. Brought on again shortly after the hour mark with Dortmund leading 3-0, the French-born Ivory Coast international coolly tucked away a penalty in the 81st minute before a simple tap-in five minutes later.
Then Haller got fancy with a flicked finish from a corner kick which beat Basel's goalkeeper and nestled into the back of the net, making it 6-0 to the German giants. Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic was delighted with his No.9's contribution and said: "You could see how good the penalty goal did him, how the boys were also happy for him.
"That often makes things feel easier. The quality he has in the penalty area was then visible. But you first have to get into these situations like when he scored his third goal. Today we played against a space defence, we put up a really good block so that he was very free for this contact. But it was extraordinary."
The feel-good story continues from Haller's first game back on Tuesday, after which he beamed: "It was a great moment. I got a lot of applause, I got a lot of messages. Finally, after six months, I was really looking forward to play. When you sign for a club, you want to play direct.
"Now, I hope I will play games. It's a way better feeling than running in the forest. This feeling was missing the last months. That's why I want to be on the pitch for the rest of the season, to play as many minutes as I can and stay fit."
Have your say! Will Haller fire Dortmund into the Champions League? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
Yet to make an official appearance for the Bundesliga behemoths, Haller will be hoping to help Dortmund qualify for the Champions League come the end of the season. Terzic's side sit sixth in the table, two points behind fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt and nine behind league-leaders Bayern Munich after 15 games.
Dortmund, of course, have England star Jude Bellingham to help the cause and the 19-year-old midfielder is relishing the opportunity to play alongside Haller in the second half of the campaign. "What a sight, what a man," Bellingham wrote in response to a video of Haller making his return against Dusseldorf.
What a sight indeed.
