Moffi’s hat-trick: Lorient star equals Ikpeba’s Ligue 1 tally

Terem Moffi has now matched Victor Ikpeba’s goalscoring record in Ligue 1, having scored a hat-trick against Bordeaux.

The Nigerian striker was Lorient’s hero by scoring on three occasions as they overpowered the Girondins 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.

Prior to the encounter against the visitors, the 21-year-old had found the net three times in his last two league games.

He bagged a brace in his penultimate outing, but his team suffered a 3-2 away defeat to Olympique Marseille.

With relegation staring Christophe Pelissier’s men in the face, they welcomed Bordeaux, who are also battling against demotion.

In dire need of a victory, they dominated ball possession from the first blast of Jeremie Pignard’s whistle.

Their dominance paid off in the 18th minute after Yoane Wissa put Lorient ahead with Enzo Le Fee providing the assist.

The Congolese forward headed the Frenchman’s corner kick past goalkeeper Benoit Costil, to the excitement of fans at the Stade du Moustoir.

They did not take their foot off the proverbial pedal as they doubled their advantage two minutes later with Moffi the goalscorer. He was teed up in the box by Wissa, who darted through the visitors’ backline.

Two minutes before the half-time break, the Nigerian completed his brace to put his team three goals up.

Controlling a long pass from Trevoh Chalobah, he beat defenders Mexer and Paul Baysse before slotting the ball into an empty net after Costil had rushed off his line.

The Merlucciidaes continued their dominance in the second half, however, it was the Super Eagles prospect who stole the show of the day by sealing his treble in style.

Receiving a pass from substitute Armand Lauriente, he controlled the ball, picked his spot before unleashing a beauty past the opposition outside the box.

With that, he has now scored 14 goals in his maiden season in French football. In the process, he equalled Ikpeba’s feat in a single season during his time at AS Monaco during the 1997-98 campaign.

Not willing to go down without a fight, Bordeaux pulled a goal back through Malian midfielder Issouf Sissokho with seven minutes left to play.

After an impressive shift that lasted for 85 minutes, the Calabar born marksman was substituted for Pierre-Yves Hamel.

Thanks to this result, Lorient moved four points clear of the relegation zone having accrued 35 points from 34 encounters in the 2020-21 campaign.