Incredible Gift Orban nets hat-trick in thumping Gent win

Gift Orban continued his impressive goalscoring form for KAA Gent as he scored a hat-trick to help them to a 4-0 win away to Cercle Brugge in their Belgian League UEFA Europa Conference League Playoff group.

After scoring against KVC Westerlo and Standard Liege in the first two playoff games, Orban was handed a starting berth for the trip to Brugges.

Cercle Brugge were reduced to ten men after only 22 minutes when young midfielder Christiaan Ravych was sent off for two bookable offences.

Gent struggled to find a breakthrough despite dominating, and their opener finally came with four minutes left in the first half through striker Hugo Cuypers, who scored after he was found by veteran midfielder Sven Kums.

The second half was the Gift Orban show, with the 20-year-old scoring his side’s second of the evening in the 51st minute with a tidy finish from a tight angle following another brilliant Kums assist.

Shortly after the hour mark, Orban scored his second of the game when he was set up by Tarik Tissoudali. The striker completed his third hat-trick for the club with a delicate lob in the 67th minute after he was played in behind by defender Kamil Piatkowski.

Orban has now scored 14 goals in 13 league matches since joining the club in January. The young striker has also scored 19 goals in 19 appearances across all competitions for the club and is only three behind top scorer Cuypers. He was nominated for the Ebony Shoe Award during the week alongside USG forward Victor Boniface.