Brian Brobbey joins exclusive Premier League club of hat-trick scoring losers

Over 200 players have scored a Premier League hat-trick, but five have still ended up on the losing team. And one unfortunate star has done so twice…

Imagine the fume in the dressing room post-game, scoring three times and having to look your vertically-challenged defenders in the eye? All that goal-scoring prowess for nothing.

We’ve dusted off the archive and investigated these five unfortunate souls.

Matt Le Tissier (Southampton v Oldham, 1993)

Oldham v Southampton in May 1993 was one of those rare matches where everybody ends up happy. Except Le Tiss.

Oldham’s 4-3 win kept them up and relegated Crystal Palace instead, while the Saints were already safe and played as if already in the departure lounge.

After the stress of keeping Southampton afloat, Le Tissier cut loose at Boundary Park. His three goals included a volley, a brilliant free-kick and a well-taken header.

Matt Le Tissier (Southampton v Nottm Forest, 1995)

Fast forward to August 1995 and this was the precise moment Le Tissier started questioning it all.

A summer’s day at The Dell, with the worries of another relegation battle still remote, saw the Saints ship four to Nottingham Forest.

Le Tissier scored two penalties and another free-kick, but couldn’t prevent defeat. As he glanced upwards, a plane streaked across the August sky. The seed had been planted.

Dion Dublin (Coventry v Sheff Weds, 1995)

Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday were two early Premier League stalwarts and enjoyed a ding-dong encounter at Hillsborough in December 1995.

The Sky Blues had won just once all season, so you can guess why Dublin’s treble wasn’t the slam dunk it should’ve been.

The future Homes Under The Hammer presenter netted three proper centre-forward goals; two headers, one glancing and one thumping, and a tap-in.

But Wednesday stole the day with a Mark Bright winner. He’d later join Dublin on the BBC, but sadly stuck to the sports department.

Dwight Yorke (Aston Villa v Newcastle, 1996)

Yorke’s exploits at St James’ Park in 1996 were broadcast live on Monday Night Football, cementing his status as a household name.

Newcastle had just finished second, playing wildly attacking football; they had enough firepower to see off Yorke and Villa, but those defensive frailties were still apparent in this September match.

He was only denied a fourth – and a late equaliser – by the linesman’s flag.

Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn v Wigan, 2007)

Santa Cruz remains a staple of the Planet Football nostalgia department, popping up whenever we check who’s still playing from the 2006 World Cup and whatnot.

Despite several years at Bayern Munich, his cult status in England was cemented by one prolific year for Mark Hughes’ Blackburn in 2007-08.

The Paraguayan scored 23 times that year, 19 of them in the Premier League, including this doomed hat-trick at Wigan in December.

Rovers lost 5-3 and Santa Cruz was outshone by Wigan’s Marcus Bent, who also scored a hat-trick.

Yet mention Bent’s name at the pub and nobody gets dewy-eyed. So who’s the real winner?

Brian Brobbey (Sunderland v Man City, 2026)

Brobbey has fast become one of our favourite Premier League footballers, a hustle and bustle exterior masking a more nuanced striker underneath.

Scoring seven times as newly-promoted Sunderland qualified for Europe in 2026 was one thing.

Netting a hat-trick against Manchester City at the Etihad, even if the Black Cats leaked five at the other end, justified all those summer transfer links to bigger clubs elsewhere.

It was also the first time since Jermain Defoe in 2016 that a Sunderland player has netted three goals in a Premier League game.