MADRID, Feb 27 (AP) — With four goals from four shots, Yeremy Pino became the first Villarreal player to score four times in a Spanish league game on Sunday.
Pino scored a hat trick before halftime and added another goal in the second half of Villarreal’s 5-1 rout of Espanyol at home.
The 19-year-old Spain forward had never scored more than a goal in his career. He is the third youngest four-goal scorer in the history of the Spanish league.
It was the eighth win for Villarreal in its last 11 league games, with its only loss at Elche in January.
Unai Emery’s team was coming off a 1-1 draw at home against Juventus in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Keidi Baré scored Espanyol’s lone goal in the second half. Villarreal’s fifth goal was scored by Boulaye Dia near the end of the game at the La Cerámica Stadium.
The win moved Villarreal to fifth place, three points behind fourth-place Atlético Madrid, which won 2-0 at Celta Vigo on Saturday.
League leader Real Madrid won 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano on the same day.
Espanyol’s winless streak reached eight matches in all competitions, with five losses and three draws. It stayed in 14th place.