Brobbey joins exclusive Premier League club of hat‑trick losers

Netherlands striker Brian Brobbey made Premier League history on Sunday when he netted a hat‑trick for Sunderland in their 5‑3 defeat at Manchester City, becoming only the fifth player ever to score three goals while on the losing side in the top flight.

The match, played at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, saw Sunderland overwhelmed despite Brobbey's brilliance, with City ultimately securing the win.

Rare feat in Premier League history

Brobbey's achievement marks only the sixth occurrence of a player scoring three goals in a Premier League defeat since the competition began in 1992. It is the first such instance since 2007, ending a 19‑year drought. The Netherlands forward joins a very exclusive group of five other players.

Previous hat‑tricks on the losing side

Before Brobbey, the last player to record a losing hat‑trick was Roque Santa Cruz. The Paraguayan scored three for Blackburn Rovers in a 5‑3 loss to Wigan Athletic in December 2007. His feat had stood alone for nearly two decades.

In the mid‑1990s three more players suffered the same fate. Dwight Yorke netted a hat‑trick for Aston Villa in a 4‑3 defeat at Newcastle in September 1996. A few months later, Dion Dublin scored three for Coventry City during a 4‑3 loss to Sheffield Wednesday in December 1995.

Matt le Tissier holds the dubious honour of achieving the feat twice. He first scored a hat‑trick for Southampton in a 4‑3 defeat at Oldham Athletic on 8 May 1993, the inaugural Premier League season. He repeated the accomplishment on 19 August 1995, when Southampton lost 4‑3 at home to Nottingham Forest.

The six hat‑tricks recorded in defeats are: le Tissier (1993, 1995), Dublin (1995), Yorke (1996), Santa Cruz (2007) and Brobbey (2026). Each occurred in a 4‑3 or 5‑3 loss, underlining how rare such high‑scoring defeats are.

The record was highlighted in response to a question from Chris in Cumbria submitted to Ask Me Anything team, illustrating the enduring curiosity about unusual Premier League statistics.