Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick for Sunderland against Manchester City, which went in vain as the Black Cats fell to a 5-3 defeat.
Sunderland frontman Brian Brobbey got off the mark this season in stunning style with his emphatic hat-trick against Premier League leaders Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
Unfortunately for the Dutchman, his trio of goals went in vain as Sunderland fell to a 5-3 defeat at Man City, with Enzo Fernandez, Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo and Erling Haaland getting on the scoresheet to secure three points for Enzo Maresca's side.
From Brobbey's perspective, it was the number nine's best performance in a Sunderland shirt since arriving from Eredivisie giants Ajax last summer in a £21.6m deal, seeing the Black Cats' top goalscorer from last season open his account for the 2026/27 campaign with an outstanding attacking performance.
Brobbey equalised twice for Sunderland to bring the scoreline back to 3-2 before his third goal took the dramatic clash to 4-3 just two minutes after Semenyo's second, with the Dutchman giving City defender Ruben Dias a torrid afternoon in a performance the Black Cats striker was inevitably pleased with.
Brian Brobbey scores his second goal for Sunderland vs Man City (REUTERS)Brian Brobbey Reacts To Sunderland Hat-trick vs Man City
Brobbey's valiant goalscoring effort may have gone unrewarded in terms of points, but regardless, it was a mammoth performance from the Sunderland striking spearhead.
He showed composure to net his first past the onrushing Gianluigi Donnarumma, innate attacking instinct to beat the City offside trap for his second and similar goalscoring prowess and bravery to fire home his third after the interval.
The Sunderland number nine was awarded player of the match for his exploits, and rightly so, with the physically imposing striker becoming the first Black Cats player to score a Premier League hat-trick since club legend Jermain Defoe back in 2016.
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Against City, Brobbey took the most shots (five) of any player, converting three, and tortured the opposition's backline with his bullish centre-forward play, which saw the Sunderland star win ten out of 12 duels and earn five fouls for his side.
Understandably, Brobbey was elated with his own personal performance after a run of five games without a goal at the start of the new season, but admitted that it was a "really hard" game to lose against City given his hat-trick heroics.
Brobbey told Sky Sports post-defeat: "It's hard being on the losing side when you're scoring three goals. It's really hard to lose.
"It was up and down, up and down. Man City are a really good team with lots of quality so yes, we tried.
"I think we played a really good game. We tried, it's hard when you lose. We just need to keep going.
"I'm really happy obviously, with three goals, now going into the international break, it's a good feeling.
"We won 1-0, so it's been good to get three points, we just need to keep building. That's why as a group we have to keep going."
Sunderland's Brian Brobbey carries the match ball after Man City defeat (Action Images via Reuters) Brian Brobbey Joins Exclusive Sunderland Club After Hat-trick vs Man City
Although Brobbey became the first player to score a hat-trick and still end up on the losing side in a Premier League match since Roque Santa Cruz for Blackburn Rovers against Wigan Athletic in December 2007, the Dutchman can be pleased to join an exclusive Sunderland goalscoring club.
Brobbey's trio of strikes against City saw the 24-year-old become just the fifth different Sunderland player to net a hat-trick for the Black Cats in the Premier League, and the first in over ten years.
Brobbey joins Sunderland record goalscorer Kevin Phillips, as well as former players Darren Bent, Adam Johnson, and most recently Defoe, before the Dutch international in the Premier League hat-trick club for the Black Cats, according to data from Opta on X.
Additionally, Opta outlined that Brobbey is just the fourth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick against the side starting the day at the top of the table, after Robbie Fowler vs Aston Villa in November 1998, Dirk Kuyt against Man Utd in March 2011, and Romelu Lukaku versus Man Utd in May 2013.
Considering Brobbey created more xG (expected goals) alone this weekend than every Premier League team combined, barring Sunderland, it highlights that his outstanding centre-forward performance deserved some points to take back to the Stadium of Light as well as his matchball.
The defeat will be difficult for Brobbey and his Sunderland teammates to take, but it is pleasing to see the number nine end his dry spell of goals and regain his goalscoring form heading into the next stage of the season.
