LONDON (Reuters) – Ivan Toney struck a sensational hat-trick to earn Brentford a thrilling 5-2 home win over Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Toney sent Illan Meslier the wrong way from the penalty spot to open the scoring in the 30th minute after being fouled by Luis Sinisterra and doubled Brentford’s lead with a sublime freekick from just outside the box in the 43rd.
He completed his sixth career hat-trick in stunning style in the 58th minute, rounding Meslier and floating the ball over two defenders and into an empty net from distance after the Leeds keeper was forced to charge out to clear his lines.
“I’ve set myself a target of 30 goals this season,” said Toney, who now has five goals in six appearances this season. “Let’s see where I end up. It’s achievable. Why not?”
Sinisterra pulled a goal back for Leeds just before halftime with a fine bit of skill, but Leeds then lost their manager Jesse Marsch to a red card for arguing with the officials shortly after Toney’s third goal.
“The main thing is we gave away too many easy goals, some mistakes that led them into chances and set pieces,” Marsch said. “We have to learn from making these mistakes when we’re away from home, and we have to get better.”
Marsch introduced Patrick Bamford at halftime and the striker came close to making an instant impact, beating Ben Mee for pace down the left and forcing David Raya into making a sharp save soon after the restart.
“It’s not where we wanted to be,” Bamford said. “We can’t do what we did, which was get back in the game and then throw it away within seconds. It’s naive… we’ve got to learn quickly because you can’t get away with that.”
Marc Roca scored a second for the visitors in the 79th, but it was Brentford who had the last word when Bryan Mbeumo slotted home a minute later to restore the two-goal cushion before Yoane Wissa added the home side’s fifth in injury time.
The win moved Brentford up four places to seventh in the table, while Leeds dropped to ninth.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
