Arsenal news: Mesut Ozil becomes fifth Gunners player to bag a Champions League hat-trick
Ozil joins an exclusive group of Arsenal players who have all scored a hat-trick in Europe's elite competition
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mesut Ozil has cemented his status as one of Arsenal’s modern greats after becoming the fifth Gunners player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League.
The German scored all three of his goals in the second half of Wednesday's match at the Emirates to fire Arsenal to a 6-0 victory against Ludogorets.
And Ozil now joins an exclusive group of Arsenal players who have bagged a hat-trick in the European competition.
Thierry Henry, Danny Welbeck, Olivier Giroud and even Nicklas Bendtner all achieved the feat throughout their careers at Arsenal.
Henry, Arsenal’s record goalscorer, was the first man to score three goals for the club since the Champions League was revamped in 1992. The Frenchman scored all three goals in the side’s 3-1 victory over Roma in November 2002, and it took another eight years until a fellow-Gunner matched his feat.
Nicklas Bendtner of all people grabbed the club’s second hat-trick, notching three goals to help Arsenal overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit to Porto as they recorded a 5-0 victory at home to reach the quarter-finals, while Danny Welbeck registered the third in a 4-1 win over Galatasaray.
One year later, Olivier Giroud fired his way into the history books to clinch Arsenal’s fourth European hat-trick against Olympiakos – and now it’s Ozil’s turn to enjoy the limelight.
Arsenal’s fan could barely contain their excitement following the German’s impressive performance – the 28-year-old also provided an assist for Theo Walcott’s superb first-half striker – and it seems a small minority of Gunners supporters have asked that the club erect a statue in his honour.
Although manager Arsene Wenger won’t be as keen on the idea, the Frenchman praised the midfielder in the wake of Wednesday’s victory.
“He looks like he gets the taste to score goals because he goes more in behind [the defence],” Wenger said. “Before he liked only to come to the ball and provide. We want him to be a provider and a scorer. He looks like he is slowly moving to that better balance.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments