Yassine Zabiri hat-trick earns Racing Santander thrilling win over Elche

Yassine Zabiri scored all three goals as Racing Santander held on to beat Elche 3-2 in a dramatic La Liga contest.

The Morocco international struck three times in the first half at El Sardinero, putting Racing in a commanding position before a late Elche rally made the closing stages tense. Buba Sangare and Fernando Nino scored within a minute of each other to give the visitors hope, but Racing secured their first victory of the new season.

Zabiri opened the scoring in the 15th minute after taking advantage of an error by the Elche goalkeeper. It was his first goal for Racing and the first of the match.

He doubled the home side’s advantage six minutes later. A well-worked pass took a deflection off the Elche defence, allowing Zabiri to run through on goal before calmly finding the net for his second.

The 21-year-old completed his hat-trick in spectacular fashion in the 36th minute. After an accurate cross from Inigo Vicente, Zabiri finished with an impressive overhead kick to claim his first La Liga hat-trick.

His performance placed him among a select group of Moroccan players to have achieved the feat in Spain’s top flight since the beginning of the 21st century. He became the fourth, following Youssef En-Nesyri, Youssef El-Arabi and Munir El Haddadi.

Zabiri also became the second-fastest African player to score a La Liga hat-trick this century, behind Samuel Eto’o, who scored three times against Almeria in 2008.

His treble was the first by a Racing player in a La Liga match at El Sardinero since Javi Guerrero scored three against Murcia in 2004.

Racing appeared to be in complete control until the final 12 minutes. Sangare reduced the deficit in the 78th minute, converting a precise cross from Lucas Cepeda.

Elche struck again just one minute later. Tete Morente delivered a dangerous ball into the area, and Fernando Nino took advantage of problems in the Racing defence to score the visitors’ second goal.

Racing resisted the late pressure to claim three points and move to four points from their opening three matches. They sit eighth in the table after beginning the campaign with a defeat and a draw.

Elche remain without a win and have only one point, leaving them 18th. Their record now stands at two defeats and one draw.

Racing will attempt to build on the result when they travel to face Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in the fourth round of La Liga.

Elche’s next opportunity to improve their position comes on Monday, when they host or visit Real Sociedad in their fourth league fixture.