England’s Jadon Sancho scored the first hat-trick of his career on his first start since the Bundesliga resumed as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Paderborn.
After an uneventful first half, Thorgan Hazard put Dortmund ahead with a tap-in before Sancho slotted home his first goal since 29 February.
Sancho added the third after Uwe Hunemeier’s penalty reduced the bottom side’s deficit before Achraf Hakimi and Marcel Schmelzer made it 5-1.
He got his third in stoppage time.
The 20-year-old is the first English player to score an overseas hat-trick in one of Europe’s major leagues for 31 years – former Luton forward Brian Stein was the last person to achieve the feat, playing for Caen against Cannes in France’s Ligue 1 on 31 May 1989.
After scoring his first goal, Sancho took off his shirt to reveal a “Justice For George Floyd” T-shirt. Floyd died after being arrested by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 25 May.
The England forward was booked for removing his Dortmund top.
Sancho later wrote on Instagram: “Delighted to get my first career hat trick, a bittersweet moment personally as there are more important things going on in the world today that we must address and help make a change.”
His first goal came after a pass by Julian Brandt, while the former Manchester City youth player produced a smart finish following an assist by Hazard for his second.
Sancho’s hat-trick, and his 17th Bundesliga goal of the season, arrived in the 91st minute after being played in down the right.
The win kept alive Dortmund’s faint hopes of winning the Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich’s lead at the top now seven points with five games remaining.
Paderborn remain rooted at the bottom, eight points behind Fortuna Dusseldorf, who are 16th in a relegation play-off place.
