Nestory Irankunda became the youngest hat-trick scorer in Isuzu UTE A-League history in Adelaide United’s 4-1 win over Western United at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
Irankunda – aged 18 years and 49 days – opened the scoring in the first half, before sealing his hat-trick with two goals in the first three minutes of the second stanza to eclipse Nathan Burns (18 years, 259 days) as the youngest player to score three goals in an Isuzu UTE A-League game.
Michael Ruhs pegged one back for Western shortly after Irankunda’s third but Zach Clough iced the result with an 80th-minute penalty that wrapped up all three points for the Reds, before Western defender Tomoki Imai received a red card for an altercation with Ryan Kitto in second-half stoppage time.
Australian football historian Andrew Howe confirmed Irankunda as the second-youngest hat-trick scorer in Australian men’s national football league history behind John Panagis of West Adelaide in 1984 at 18 years and 32 days.
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Angus Thurgate and Daniel Penha both had early chances to open the scoring for the visitors but after the latter fired just wide from distance, James Delianov – who signed a three-year contract extension in midweek – stood tall to keep Thurgate off the scoresheet with a strong block.
Irankunda then bagged his first goal of the night 19 minutes into the first half – and the 18-year-old did so in style.
A severely miscued attempt on goal by Zach Clough led to an inviting opening for Irankunda and the teenager delivered with aplomb, driving his first-time shot into the bottom-left corner.
The hosts took their one-goal lead to half-time – but just five minutes after the restart it was 3-1 as the action exploded at Coopers Stadium.
Irankunda scored within one minute of kick-off to double his tally for the night, latching onto a Stefan Mauk through ball, taking one touch off his thigh and squeezing the ball past the outrushing Matt Sutton with the outside of his right foot.
Irankunda had never scored more than one goal in a single A-Leagues game but just two minutes after securing his brace, the young Reds forward had his hat-trick.
This time he used his head to finish; Mauk was once again the provider for the goal, drifting a cut-back cross to the six-yard box for the teenager to attack with intent and fire home his third goal of the night, and the 14th of his career to date.
The Reds faithful barely had the time to sit back down in their seats following Irankunda’s hat-trick goal when Western struck against the run of play.
Javi Lopez slipped inside his defensive penalty area to allow Ruhs to swoop in, gather possession and fire between the legs of Delianov and cut the margin back to two.
Goals in the 46th, 48th and 50th minute electrified Coopers Stadium in a breathless start to the second half.
Western’s quick response to Irankunda’s hat-trick could have launched a surprise comeback but after 20 goalless second-half minutes, the Reds were awarded a penalty when a VAR review spotted a handball from defender Tomoki Imai in the box.
Clough stepped up to take the penalty and showed conviction to beat Sutton who guessed the right way but couldn’t get a glove on the ball as it lashed into the back of the net.
Imai was sent off in the third minute of added time after an altercation with Kitto in midfield as Western’s sour night ended in defeat.
The post-game reaction unsurprisingly centred on the remarkable performance of Irankunda who received plaudits from teammates, rivals and coaches alike in the aftermath of an outing he described as the best of his career to date.
Irankunda has just one home game to play before the end of the season, against Macarthur FC at Coopers Stadium on Friday, April 12 and Mauk, who supplied a pair of assists for Irankunda on the night, urged Adelaide fans to get in quick if they hope to see off their teenage star before his off-season move to Bayern Munich.
“We’ve got one more home game, Nestor’s last home game as well,” Mauk told Paramount+.
“So if I was a fan, I’d be buying a ticket now because I reckon we’ll sell out pretty quickly.”
Western full-back Ben Garuccio had the difficult task of attempting to curtail Irankunda’s threat on the night, and after engaging in battle with the 18-year-old down Adelaide’s right wing, lauded his opponent as a special talent in Australian football.
“Nestor’s one of the best talents I think we’ve ever seen in this country, in this league,” Garuccio told Paramount+ post-game.
“That’s what sets him apart from probably a lot of other Aussie players. I think the way we’re coached at a young age is taught to be a little bit like robots, and he’s a player that has that X-factor which I think we lack in this country. You’ve got to nurture those types of talents.”
Adelaide head coach Carl Veart has spent the last three seasons doing exactly that, handing Irankunda his debut at just 15 years of age and helping the raw winger with prodigious talent take his game to another level at the Reds.
Veart spoke post-game about both the challenges Irankunda has faced along that road, and the player he has become in what will be his final season in the Isuzu UTE A-League before his departure to the German giants.
“He’s such an exciting kid,” Veart said. “Very different to any of the other young players we’ve had at the club.
“We’ve had to treat him very (differently) to anyone else. It’s upset some people at times, but look, I’ll always put what’s best for him first and we’re seeing when we treat him right and look after him, he puts those performances in.
“It’s just now (about) him building on this, and I think the last couple of weeks he’s been excellent.
“It is difficult but at the end of the day, I keep saying this: he’s a very rare talent… you’ve got to make sure you look after him, and the discipline we try to instil in him, you can’t be black and white with him.
“We have to allow the grey areas and sometimes he operates quite a lot in those grey areas. It is challenging – but you know, I can’t ask more from him. He always tries to do what I ask him to do.”
