Moudou Sougou achieved history by becoming the first player to score four goals in a single Indian Super League (ISL) match as Mumbai thrashed Kerala Blasters 6-1 at the Mumbai Football Arena on Sunday.
The victory helped Mumbai consolidate their second position in the point standings, even as Kerala extended its winless run to 11 matches, five of which have resulted in defeats.
Mumbai have 24 points 12 matches and finished the year unbeaten in eight matches, with their last defeat coming two months ago against FC Goa. Kerala after the same number of games are in the eighth position with nine points and playoffs now looking a distant dream.
Sougou (12, 15, 30) completed his hat-trick in the opening half-hour before adding another in injury -time to complete a remarkable feat. Rafael Bastos and Matias Mirabaje scored the other goals for the home side.
Seiminlen Doungel scored for Kerala to put them back into the contest after Mumbai had taken a 2-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes. But Sougou added a third three minutes later to complete what his first hat-trick of the season.