alan hat-trick helps salzburg overpower dinamo published: thursday 23 october 2014, 23.50cet fc salzburg 4-2 gnk dinamo zagreb a treble from brazilian striker alan ensured the hosts celebrated their first home success in group d in style as dinamo were blown away in austria.
• alan registers hat-trick in home success against dinamo • seven points from nine put salzburg top of group d • salzburg unbeaten in four european home games this season • next games: dinamo zagreb v salzburg (6 november)
a hat-trick from brazilian striker alan and a header from andré ramalho saw off the challenge from gnk dinamo zagreb as fc salzburg recorded a second consecutive win in uefa europa league group d.
the 25-year-old forward struck in the 14th, 45th and 52nd minutes. andré ramalho also found the net for the hosts. arijan ademi and ángelo henríquez registered for the visitors.
the austrian champions, unbeaten in three european home games this season prior to kick-off, started brightly. massimo bruno tested eduardo in the dinamo goal with a left-footed strike before martin hinteregger nodded over following a corner from christoph leitgeb. the breakthrough would come shortly after from alan. the former fluminense fc player nodded peter ankersen's cross into the net from close range.
el arabi hilal soudani, who scored a first-half treble on matchday one, squandered a glorious opportunity to equalise just four minutes after the visitors fell behind but the algerian striker was denied by salzburg goalkeeper péter gulácsi. ıt took the croatian champions until the 35th-minute to threaten the hosts goal again. marcelo brozović went close with a long-range effort. ten minutes later, alan buried a second past eduardo just before the break.
the visitors hopes of an unlikely comeback suffered a double blow early in the second half. brazilian defender andré ramalho headed in christoph leitgeb's 49th-minute corner. three minutes later, alan completed his hat-trick in style. the forward dribbled past the dinamo custodian and captain josip šimunić before slotting into the empty net.
last season's uefa europa league top scorer jonatan soriano, kevin kampl, bruno, naby keita and marcel sabitzer were all denied by the outstanding eduardo as the hosts continued to pour forward. the four-goal deficit was reduced by ademi’s 81st-minute strike before henríquez grabbed a second for dinamo a minute from time.
