Red-hot striker delivers triple tonic with first Premier League hat-trick
After Chris Wood scored the hat-trick that put the Clarets on the verge of Premier League safety, he celebrated one of
the greatest days of his life.
With five games remaining, Wood guided Burnley to an incredible 4-0 victory over Wolves, moving Sean Dyche’s
team up to 14th position in the standings and nine points above the relegation zone.
In a spectacular first-half performance, the striker scored three goals to earn his first Premier League hat-trick and
his first Burnley shirt.
This was his fourth career treble and his first since he scored three goals for Leicester City against Carlisle United in
a League Cup match in August 2013.
With a late goal from Ashley Westwood at Molineux to complete Burnley’s largest-ever away Premier League victory,
he acknowledged that things don’t get much better.
One of the greatest days of my life has been this one. Wood, who has now scored in double figures in the top level in
each of his four seasons at Claret, stated, “It really has.”
It’s incredible. In terms of my career, I’ve always desired it. It’s good that it happened at last.
“It has taken a while to happen. Now that I’m 29, I’m thrilled that it has finally arrived, which is good.
For me as a striker and the other strikers as well, it has been a difficult season; there is no escaping that.
“Speaking for myself, it’s been tough. We didn’t have the first six months of the season we wanted and we knew we
had to dig in and fight.
“I’m glad that all the strikeforce has come into the fold now and the goals have been coming for everybody.”
At a crucial juncture in the season, Wood has been in outstanding form since he returned from injury at the end of
February and has now scored six goals in six games.
The New Zealand international was too much for Wolves to handle. He gave the Clarets a 2-0 lead with two goals in
six minutes before heading home a Dwight McNeil corner one minute before halftime to become the first player
since Michael Owen in 1998 to score a Premier League hat-trick in the first half away from home.
As they continued to overwhelm a Wolves team that had won its last two games to take a mid-table position, the
Clarets just never let up.
And by decisively ending a run of three straight losses, Burnley moved up on goal differential and out from the
bottom three, surpassing Southampton and Newcastle.
Wood, who also became Burnley’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League with his first of the afternoon,
continued, “We have made it hard work for everybody else, especially the ones right down at the bottom, and that’s
what we need to do.”
“One more victory will suffice, and we will proceed accordingly.”
“I am ecstatic with the team’s performance; it is simply amazing.” It is amazing that they have reunited and are
performing well.
“Over the past six or seven games, we have been playing well.
“We performed admirably against Southampton, Newcastle in the first half, and Manchester United, but we didn’t
get the results in the following three games.
We were aware that we would come here and bring them a great deal of trouble if we continued in that direction.
The boys gave it a good start, and we carried on from there. Everyone was outstanding. It was a true moment of
unity.
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