Only five players have ever scored as many as five goals in a single Premier League game. We list them here.
- 5 Goals – Andrew Cole (Manchester United vs Ipswich Town – March 1995)
- 5 Goals – Alan Shearer (Newcastle United vs Sheffield Wednesday – September 1999)
- 5 Goals – Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur vs Wigan Athletic – November 2009)
- 5 Goals – Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United vs Blackburn Rovers – November 2010)
- 5 Goals – Sergio Agüero (Manchester City vs Newcastle United – October 2015)
No player has ever scored a double hat-trick in a Premier League game.
However, five players have almost done so, bagging five goals in a single outing. Here, we run through those players and detail how they managed to score five times in a single Premier League game.
Andrew Cole – Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town
4 March, 1995
In what became a record-setting victory for Manchester United, Andrew Cole became the first player to score five goals in a single Premier League game at Old Trafford in March 1995. United’s 9-0 win over Ipswich that day remains the joint-biggest victory in Premier League history.
Cole opened his account for the day in the 19th minute before grabbing a second in front of the Stretford End shortly before half-time. He completed his hat trick in the 57th minute after video replays showed he got the final touch on what was initially thought to be an own-goal. The striker added two more goals including Man Utd’s ninth and final strike of the day.
Having only signed two months earlier from Newcastle, Cole hit the ground running at Old Trafford and scored 12 goals in the second half of the 1994-95 season. Unfortunately for him and the rest of Alex Ferguson’s side, it wasn’t enough to win the league title that season as United were pipped by Blackburn Rovers.
Cole went on to make up for it by winning five Premier League titles at United, and he remains fourth on the all-time goalscoring list in the competition’s history with 187. Only Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney have scored more.
Alan Shearer – Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday
19 September, 1999
Newcastle must dream of playing teams from Sheffield every week as the Magpies’ two biggest victories in the Premier League have both come in 8-0 wins against the two teams from the steel city.
Their 8-0 hammering of Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in 2023-24 was Newcastle’s first victory of this margin since September 1999 when they defeated the Blades’ rivals Sheffield Wednesday at St. James’ Park, a game in which club legend Alan Shearer scored five times.
In what was Bobby Robson’s first home game as Newcastle manager, Shearer helped his side to a 4-0 half-time lead by scoring a 12-minute hat-trick, with the goals coming between the 30th and 42nd minutes. A delicate flick from a Nolberto Solano cross got him on the scoresheet and was the pick of the bunch. He added two more in the second half, with a second penalty of the game being Shearer’s fifth goal in total and capping off a wonderful day for the Geordies.
Shearer was already the Premier League’s record goalscorer at this time and it’s an honour he still holds after accumulating 260 goals for Blackburn and Newcastle.
Jermain Defoe – Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic
22 November, 2009
The Premier League had to wait just over 10 years for the next player to score five goals in a single game. Jermain Defoe was only the third man to achieve this feat by helping Spurs to a 9-1 thrashing of Wigan at White Hart Lane.
All of Defoe’s goals came in the second half of the game in 36 devastating minutes. The Spurs man netted a seven-minute hat-trick between the 51st and 58th minutes, adding two more after being played through one-on-one on both occasions.
The treble scored in seven minutes by Defoe against the Latics is the third-fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, with only Sadio Mané (2m 56sec) and Robbie Fowler (4m 33sec) netting hat-tricks in a shorter time.
The five-goal haul from Defoe proved to be another example of what made him such a clinical goalscorer. He sits ninth in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with 162 goals throughout his time with West Ham, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Tottenham and Sunderland.
Dimitar Berbatov – Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers
27 November, 2010
Just over a year on from Defoe scoring five goals in one game, Man Utd’s Dimitar Berbatov scored five himself in a masterful display against Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.
It didn’t take long for the Bulgarian to find his groove, opening the scoring after just two minutes before the floodgates opened. Berbatov had his fifth of the game by the 70th minute, which was the final goal of United’s 7-1 victory.
However, this game will forever be remembered for Berbatov’s third goal. Starting the move off by winning the ball on the edge of his own box, he combined twice with Patrice Evra with some trademark deft touches before spraying a cross-field outside-of-the-boot pass to Nani. He then nonchalantly jogged to the edge of Blackburn’s 18-yard box just in time to receive the return ball from Nani and firing into the roof of the net.
Fans will always recall Berbatov’s languid demeanour and magical first touch as a sight to behold. The former Tottenham, United and Fulham striker scored 94 goals in 229 Premier League appearances and has produced numerous moments over the years that will live long in the memory.
Sergio Agüero – Manchester City 6-1 Newcastle United
3 October, 2015
When Alexandar Mitrovic put Newcastle ahead at the Etihad Stadium back in October 2015, Man City fans would’ve been forgiven for thinking a tough afternoon could be in store against the Magpies. Sergio Agüero restored parity just before the teams went in at the break, with it appearing to be all to play for in the second half.
Agüero and his City teammates had other ideas though. The Argentine striker, linking up with David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, ran riot as he scored four times in the first 17 minutes of the second half to secure a 6-1 victory. With 20 minutes separating his first and fifth efforts, Agüero recorded the fastest time to score five goals, while his ‘perfect’ hat-trick was completed in just eight minutes.
Agüero is one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history and sits fifth in the all-time goalscoring list with 184 to his name.
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