Dries Mertens finally fulfilling potential with consecutive Napoli hat-tricks

Date: 19th December 2016 at 11:39pm
Written by:

The Belgian international broke a 42-year-old record in Serie A against Torino, as he scored back-to-back hat-tricks for the Partenopei.

Napoli and Dries Mertens electrified the league once again, with the forward scoring four goals, bringing his tally to seven within the last two weeks.

It was a stunning performance from the Belgian against Torino, who has been on fire for the Partenopei in the last few weeks.

Mertens started off strong, slotting the ball home off a driven Jose Callejon cross in the 13th minute.

He didn’t stop there, however. Far from it.

Just five minutes later, he won a penalty after being pushed down in the box.

With poise, he slotted the spot kick perfectly into the bottom left corner, leaving Joe Hart dumbfounded.

Three minutes on, Callejon pulled the trigger from outside the box, Hart only able to parry it. Mertens controlled the ball, dribbled past Hart, and shot only for Luca Rossettini to make a great goal line clearance. Unfortunately for theI Granata, the ball bounced straight back to Mertens who calmly slotted the ball into the top left on his second try, earning himself a nine-minute hat-trick.

Andrea Belotti pulled one back 13 minutes into the second half, but it was only a consolation goal for the visitors, albeit one that cemented his spot atop the Serie A leading scorers.

Callejon got his second assist of the match, another driven cross to Vlad Chiriches who slotted it home from close range to put the home side up again by three.

Six minutes later, Torino responded again, Rossettini getting a goal off of Pepe Reina’s botched save. The Spaniard was unable to secure the ball, and Rossettini kicked ou it from underneath his hands.

Mertens, still, wasn’t done having his say.

In the 80th minute, Mertens scored the game’s best goal, and a strong contender for the season’s finest as well.

Another Callejon pass got Mertens into the box, where Mertens ran to his right, turned, and scored a magnificent chip that left Hart motionless.

The stadium was silent for a moment, in awe of what they had just seen, but the crowd eventually stood up and began to roar for what had been a world-class finish.

The finish was impeccable, leaving the players shocked, including his own teammates.

Iago Falque scored a penalty, but it was too little, too late for Toro, who had lost to a formidable opponent guided by a world-class talent in Dries Mertens.

Napoli have risen to third in the league table due to AC Milan’s failure to capitalise against Atalanta.

Torino, meanwhile, fall to ninth with three consecutive defeats.

Mertens has been playing out of this world lately, becoming the only player since 1974 to have scored consecutive hat-tricks.

He finally seems to have found his footing this season, also contributing to Napoli’s Champions League run.

He has an average rating of 9.98 from WhoScored.com these last two matchdays, an indicator of how extraordinarily well he’s been playing lately.

Purchased for around €10 million from PSV Eindhoven, Mertens is looking like a steal for Napoli fans who are eager to see how the season pans out.

Results: Empoli 2-0 Cagliari; Milan 0-0 Atalanta; Juventus 1-0 Roma; Sassuolo 0-1 Inter; Chievo 2-1 Sampdoria; Napoli 5-3 Torino; Udinese 2-0 Crotone; Pescara 0-3 Bologna; Genoa 3-4 Palermo; Lazio 3-1 Fiorentina

Italian League table powered by WhatstheScore.com

 

Comments are closed.