Jubilant Jota hits treble for Wolves in Europa League
Diogo Jota was in superb form for Wolves as the Europa League returned on Thursday, scoring a hat-trick as the Premier League side defeated Espanyol 4-0.
For the opening goal, he found himself in the right place at the right time to cleverly cushion a volley into the bottom corner from close range after a well-worked corner routine from the hosts.
His second saw him dart in behind the Espanyol defence before lashing an emphatic finish into the top right corner from a fairly tight angle. To earn his hat-trick, he collects the ball down the left flank and cuts inside, feigning to shoot a couple of times which gives him enough space to smash a low strike into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box.
He completed 23/29 attempted passes, too, so rarely gave the ball away.
Like Jota, Daichi Kamada also scored a hat-trick, with his coming as Eintracht Frankfurt comfortably beat Salzburg 4-1.
All of his goals came within the first 55 minutes, with the first coming 12 minutes in after he received the ball to feet inside the box before coolly finishing from 12 yards out.
His second was the best of the lot as he beat the opposition offside trap to burst through on goal before shifting the ball on to his left foot to evade the defender to then dink a gorgeous iittle finish over the oncoming keeper.
To record his perfect hat-trick (Right foot, left foot, header), he glanced a header into the bottom corner after the cross from Evan N'Dicka.
Overall he had five touches inside the opposition box and sent nine passes into the final third.
From two attacking masterclasses to a defensive masterclass, now, as Diego Godin put in a commanding performance at the back for Inter as they secured a 2-0 away win at Ludogorets.
The home side only managed one shot on goal the entire game, and a major part of the reason for this was the Uruguayan's work in front of his goal. He won 12/17 duels, 100% of his tackles (4/4), and 4/5 aerial duels.
To curb most potential Ludogorets attacks, he also made eight ball recoveries, six interceptions, and three clearances.
Rangers successfully came back from two goals behind with 25 minutes to go to beat Braga 3-2, with Ianis Hagi key to their resurgence.
While 2-0 down, the home side were knocking on the door of the Braga defence for a while, and eventually clawed one back via Hagi, who cut inside from the right wing before sending a left-footed strike in off the post from the edge of the area.
Then, with nine minutes remaining, he completed the Rangers comeback with a fortuitous free kick which deflected past the goalkeeper into the left corner after being struck from 25 yards.
He provided decent ammunition for team-mates, too, as he sent 17 passes into the final third and four successful crosses in from wide areas.
While Jota will steal the headlines for Wolves with his hat-trick, Ruben Neves was also magnificent in the game, and scored what was probably the best goal of this round of Europa League action.
After the ball is cleared out of the box, he takes one chested touch to set himself before rifling an absolutely sensational volley thumping into the left corner, with the ball not even touching the ground after the clearance.
As usual, his passing stats were solid as he completed 42/56 balls to team-mates.
But, it was his hard work in midfield which really impressed, as he made 13 ball recoveries.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Mathias Olivera (8.6) claimed two assists from left-back for Getafe as the Spanish side impressively defeated Ajax 2-0 at home.
ROUND TO FORGET
Espanyol goalkeeper Andres Prieto (5) was pretty unformidable as his side were demolished by Wolves. He conceded four and made just one save the entire game.