Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano struck five times, becoming the first player in UEFA Champions League history to score four goals in the opening half, as Shakhtar Donetsk trounced BATE Borisov 7-0 in Group H on Tuesday.
On a record-breaking night, Adriano joined Barcelona’s Lionel Messi — against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2012 — as the only players to hit five goals in a Champions League game.
Shakhtar’s 6-0 halftime lead also created a new mark for Europe’s elite club competition and the margin of victory equaled the best away from home, set by Olympique de Marseille when they triumphed 7-0 at MSK Zilina in 2010.
Photo: AFP
The biggest Champions League win by any team came in 2007 when Liverpool crushed visiting Besiktas 8-0 at Anfield.
Ukrainians Shakhtar are now second in the group on five points, two behind leaders Porto, who beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1, with Ricardo Quaresma netting the winner after Guillermo Fernandez had canceled out Hector Herrera’s opener for the Portuguese hosts.
BATE are third with three points from three matches, while Athletic Bilbao have one.
“That was a very entertaining performance in the first half,” Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu told a press conference. “We were very good on the counterattack tonight, but I am sure we will see a different BATE in the return game in two weeks.”
The beleaguered Belarussians, unbeaten at home for more than a year, went behind in the 11th minute when Taison stole the ball in midfield and freed Alex Teixeira, who rounded goalkeeper Sergei Chernik to score.
Teixeira also had a hand in the second goal after 28 minutes when he was brought down by Chernik and Adriano converted the spot-kick.
Taison played a part in Douglas Costa’s third from close range, before Adriano produced an angled drive to make it 4-0.
The 27-year-old Brazilian marksman then completed one of the fastest hat-tricks in the competition with another neat finish in the 40th minute.
The quickest Champions League hat-trick was achieved in seven minutes by Bafetimbi Gomis for Olympique Lyonnais against Dinamo Zagreb in 2011.
There was still time before the interval for Adriano to add to BATE’s misery with a sixth goal for Shakhtar, before he completed the rout with a penalty in the 82nd minute.
All seven goals were scored by Brazilians.
A record 40 goals were scored in just eight group games as there were also wins for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Schalke 04, while Manchester City drew 2-2 away to CSKA Moscow.
Schalke stayed within two points of Chelsea by beating Portugal’s Sporting — who played for almost an hour with just 10 men — 4-3 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Chinedu Obasi, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Benedikt Hoewedes scored to have Schalke in control after Nani had put Sporting ahead, but an Adrien Silva brace made it 3-3 and it looked as if the Portuguese side would return home with a draw.
However, substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting converted a stoppage-time penalty to hand new Schalke coach Roberto di Matteo a second win from as many games in charge.
Manchester City’s stumbling start in Group E continued as they threw away a 2-0 lead to draw with CSKA in a game played behind closed doors in sub-zero temperatures.
Sergio Aguero and James Milner netted in the first half for the English champions, only for Seydou Doumbia to pull one back, before a late Bebras Natcho penalty earned the Russians a point and left City third in their group.
“We’ve lost two very important points, but we have nine points more to play for and I believe we still have enough chances to reach the knockout stage,” bullish City manager Manuel Pellegrini said.
PSG remain top of Group F after a 1-0 win at APOEL, secured thanks to a late Edinson Cavani goal, while Barcelona dismissed Ajax 3-1 to stay a point behind in second.
Neymar and Sandro Ramirez netted for the Catalans either side of a strike from Messi, who is now level with Cristiano Ronaldo on 69 Champions League goals, two behind Raul’s all-time record of 71.
Anwar El Ghazi scored for the visitors.
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