Al Hassan Toure scored a clinical hat-trick as Sydney FC dominated Newcastle Jets in a 4-1 win at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Jets took an early lead through Ben Gibson before the Sky Blues took control in Newcastle. Toure failed to find the back of the net in his first two league appearances for Sydney but broke his duck in the 11th minute to equalise for his new side.
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Sydney had a second goal ruled out for an offside call before half-time but Toure scored again five minutes after half-time to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
Seven minutes later, Toure secured his hat-trick with a near-identical goal to his second, converted off the left flank at the end of a rapid Sydney counter-attack as Ufuk Talay’s side cruised to a two-goal lead.
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Patrick Wood then came off the bench to put the result beyond doubt for the Sky Blues, pouncing on a loose ball in the box as Sydney responded to their critics in emphatic fashion at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The hefty defeat came as a shock for the Jets who rolled into Round 3 off the back of an impressive 5-2 win over Melbourne Victory; in-form young midfielder Alex Badolato scored a hat-trick in that fixture but one week later, it was Toure with a three-goal performance at Newcastle’s home.
Sydney lost 2-1 to Adelaide in Round 1 but have now defeated Central Coast and Newcastle on the bounce to sit second on the Isuzu UTE A-League table.
Match highlights
What they said
Hat-trick hero elated after ‘one of my best games ever’
Hear from Al Hassan Toure after the Sydney FC signing bagged the first hat-trick of his Isuzu UTE A-League career, three league games into his stint as a Sky Blue.
