5 players in Premier League history to have scored 5 goals in a game

Joy for Alan Shearer of Newcastle as he scores the winning goal
Alan Shearer scored 5 goals in a game against Sheffield Wednesday in 1999

The Premier League record for the most number of goals by an individual player in a game is 5, with five different players holding a joint record for achieving this special feat.

Since its inception in 1992, a bunch of players from different nations have managed to score a hat-trick, fewer have managed to score four in a game. However, there are only five players who scored five times in a game, with all of them achieving this feat in front of a home audience. Here, we take a look at those 5 players:


#5 Andy Cole - 1995 (Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town)

Andy Cole
Andy Cole net 5 goals to sink Ipswich Town

Former England and Premier League striker, Andy Cole, became the first-ever player in PL history to score five goals in a single game in 1995 and is third on the all-time PL goalscorers list with 187 goals.

Manchester United played host to Ipswich Town in March 1995, in the Premier League and the game ended 9-0 in favour of the home team, with Cole netting five in the process.

Sir Alex Ferguson oversaw a strong United team that boasted the likes of Cole, Cantona, Giggs and Keane, but failed to lift the Premier Trophy that season, as Kenny Dalglish and his Blackburn Rovers team pipped United to the title.

Cole, however, enjoyed a trophy-laden stint at United for six years before continuing his journey with various clubs till he retired in 2008.

The Englishman began his career in 1989 with Arsenal four years before the introduction of the Premier League and remains one the league's greatest goal scorers of all-time.

#4 Alan Shearer - 1999 (Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday)

Alan Shearer of Newcastle
Alan Shearer of Newcastle scored 5 against a hapless Sheffield Wednesday side

Former captain and talisman for England and Newcastle United, Alan Shearer, became only the second man after Andy Cole to score five goals in a PL game in September of 1999. Newcastle United played host to Sheffield Wednesday as the away side was battered 8-0, with Shearer scoring five.

On what was the home side's biggest league victory and the best day of their season, the club finished 13th in the table at the end of the season. Shearer netted 14 goals the whole season and finished four goals off the pace to win the golden boot in the 1999 season that saw United win the league.

Shearer tops the all-time goal scoring chart with 260 PL goals. Shearer began his career with Southampton in 1988 and scored 23 goals during his four seasons with the Saints. Blackburn signed the striker in 92 and the Englishman won his only PL title with the club in 95.

#3 Jermain Defoe - 2009 (Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic)

Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace - Premier League
Defoe celebrates scored 5 goals in a game for Tottenham Hotspur against Wigan Athletic

Jermain Defoe made his professional debut under Harry Redknapp for West Ham United in 2000, earned a reputation for being a prolific goal scorer in a couple of good seasons at the Hammers. The English international joined Spurs in 2004 in what is considered a shocking move at the time as he crossed derby lines with the move.

The Englishman continued to score a lot of goals for Spurs before making a shock move to join Redknapp at Portsmouth in 2008 for a year, after which he followed the manager and re-joined the Spurs.

In November of the 2009 season, Spurs welcomed Wigan to White Hart Lane in a game that ended 9-1 in favour of the Spurs, as Defoe bagged five becoming the third player in PL history to do so.

The Englishman then made a strange move to the MLS to play for Toronto FC in 2014, before joining Sunderland a year later. Defoe currently plays or AFC Bournemouth, a club he played for when he was sent on loan from West Ham at the start of his career.

#2 Dimitar Berbatov - 2010 (Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers)

Manchester United v Fulham - Premier League
Berbatov celebrates for Manchester United

Retired Bulgarian international and former PL player Dimitar Berbatov signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 2006 from Bayer Leverkusen. The Bulgarian spent eight years in the Premier League with three clubs, as he left Spurs to join Manchester United in 2009 and then joined Fulham in 2012.

He later joined Monaco and currently plies his trade for Kerala Blaster in the ISL.

During his four seasons at United, Berbatov won multiple honours at the club. He created a bit of history in 2010, as he became only the fourth player in PL history to score five goals in a game, as Manchester United thrashed Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at Old Trafford on the 27th of November, 2010.

Berbatov began his career at CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria in 1998 and has played in major leagues across Europe. He has joined an entertaining league where he is set to entertain Indian audiences for the next six months in the ISL.

#1 Sergio Agüero - 2015 (Manchester City 6-1 Newcastle United)

Manchester City v Crystal Palace - Premier League
Aguero is City's highest goal scorer

Argentinian and Manchester City talisman, Sergio Aguero recently became the club's highest goal scorer with 178 goals when he netted against Napoli in the Champions League.

In October 2015, the Argentinian scored five goals in a PL game against Newcastle United as City routed the Magpies 6-1. Aguero joined City in 2011 with the number 16 jersey, but switched in 2015 to the number 10 and continues to wear the shirt.

He guided City to the League Cup and a Champions League finish that season, as he finished the year with 24 goals one behind the PL golden boot winner Harry Kane.

Aguero, under Guardiola this campaign has managed to continue his prolific goalscoring form season after season for City as they are front-runners to win their third PL title in seven years. The Argentine striker is also the front-runner for this year's PL golden boot.

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Edited by Aakanksh Sanketh
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