Atleti's Sørloth nets earliest-ever LaLiga hat trick

Atlético Madrid striker Alexander Sørloth scored the earliest hat trick in LaLiga history as part of four goals in the first half hour to fuel a 4-0 rout of Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The Norway international had a hat trick after scoring in the seventh, 10th and 11th minutes to the delight of the fans at Metropolitan Stadium in Madrid. His hat trick came four minutes earlier than Edmundo Suárez's in 1941 and Carles Bestit's in 1929.

"I just had one of those days the ball just seemed to drop at my feet," Sørloth said. "Everything went in and they were good balls from my teammates."

Looking back on his first season with Diego Simeone's side, Sorloth said he was satisfied that he was getting more starts after mostly being a substitute for Julián Álvarez earlier.

"My teammates know I am going to be in the box," he said. "They don´t even have to look, just cross it."

Sørloth got going when he volleyed in a cross from Pablo Barrios. He made it two with an angled shot just inside the far post, and Sociedad was left groggy when Jon Martín's clearance hit teammate Aritz Elustondo and fell for Sorloth to smash home.

With just three minutes and 57 seconds between his first and third goals, Sørloth's treble was also the fastest in LaLiga this century.

Sørloth waited until the half-hour mark before he used one touch to control a pass by Samuel Lino before beating goalkeeper Álex Remiro to make it four goals.

Only Edmundo Suárez, in 20 minutes for Valencia in 1941, has scored four goals earlier a match, per ESPN Research.

He went close to a fifth goal in the second half when he fired a volley off the woodwork.

Sørloth, who played for Sociedad from 2021-23, also scored four goals while playing for Villarreal last season in a 4-4 draw with Real Madrid.

"It's a relief to have days like this," he said. "I had one last year with Villarreal. You just feel so good inside when everything goes in."

Sørloth joined Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez as the only players to have more than one game of four goals in the Spanish league this century.

Atletico look certain to finish in third place. Sociedad were in 12th place and struggling to finish in positions for at least a Conference League bid in the final season of coach Imanol Alguacil.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.