La Liga: How Barcelona's Aubameyang created history with hat-trick against Valencia

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang moved to Camp Nou from Arsenal in January, football pundits had warned that the Gunners' loss could well be Barcelona's gain. The Gabonese striker has perhaps just proved them right. The Spanish giants' last-gasp swoop of Aubameyang appears to have paid dividends as the 32-year-old scored a hat-trick in a resounding 4-1 away win at Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.

Aubameyang's first goal came when he hit the upper corner in the 23rd minute, and his second goal came from a close range in the 38th minute to make it 3-0 after Frenkie de Jong scored Barca's second. 

Initially, Barcelona's 4th goal was credited to Pedri, but when the match referee issued his report after the clash, he switched it to the Gabonese striker as Pedri's effort was deflected off Aubameyang back on its way in.

This feat has etched Aubameyang's name in the history books, making him the first player in the 21st century to score a hat-trick in Europe's top 4 competitions - Ligue 1, the Bundesliga, the Premier League and La Liga. The former Arsenal striker, who last found the net in October in the Gunners' 3-1 win over Aston Villa, now has 10 goals overall this season.

The 32-year-old striker has also become the first player to score two hat-tricks in competitive games at Mestalla. Aubameyang had netted a treble for Arsenal in the Europa League in 2019. He also created history by becoming the first Gabonese footballer to score in La Liga.

Before his move to Spain, Aubameyang scored 68 Premier League goals for Arsenal, 98 Bundesliga goals for Borussia Dortmund and 41 Ligue 1 goals for Lille, Monaco and Saint-Etienne. Overall, the striker has to his credit eight hat-tricks.

Carlos Soler scored a consolation goal for the home side, with several Valencia fans at Mestalla Stadium protesting against Singaporean owner Peter Lim. With this 4-1 win, Barcelona is now in fourth place of the league with 42 points from 24 games, tied with Atletico Madrid, who are fifth on goal difference. Real Madrid continues to be league leaders with 57 points on top of the table.

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Speaking after the game, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez praised Aubameyang's display. "He has scored goals his entire career. It was to be expected that he would score here soon, too. He goes very well to space. He is mature. He is very intelligent. I am delighted with him. These two [subsequently changed to three] goals will go very well for him," the Spaniard said.