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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Freddie Keighley

Patson Daka's four-goal heroics add weight to Mo Salah and Sadio Mane claims

Patson Daka backed up his claim he can "be like" Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with an astonishing performance for Leicester City on Wednesday afternoon.

The striker scored all four goals as the Foxes came from 2-0 down to win 4-3 at Spartak Moscow in a vital Europa League group-stage clash.

Daka combined with Kelechi Iheanacho to score his first on the stroke of half-time before completing his hat-trick just nine minutes into the second half and later netting a fourth.

It was by far the Zambia international's finest game in a Leicester shirt since his £22million arrival from Red Bull Salzburg this summer after a lengthy pursuit, skyrocketing his tally from one goal to five goals for his new club.

Daka only opened his account in Leicester's 4-2 victory over Manchester United on Saturday but finally showed off his quality in his third start for Brendan Rodgers' side.

Is Patson Daka the next big thing at the King Power? Have your say in the comments!

The 23-year-old scored from Iheanacho's cross three minutes into the second half before latching onto Youri Tielemans' through-ball to complete his hat-trick in the 54th minute.

Incredibly, Daka then added his fourth of the afternoon with a composed finish past Spartak goalkeeper Aleksandr Vladimirovich after James Maddison's fine pass.

It was a performance which showed why Daka was linked with some of Europe's heavyweights over the summer following an eye-catching 34-goal season with Salzburg.

It also proved the youngster has the potential to match the explosive goalscoring form of some of his idols in the Premier League, namely Liverpool duo Salah and Mane and Arsenal captain Aubameyang.

"To see our big brothers like Aubameyang, Salah, Mane, it's something that gives me the dream that I can also make it," Daka told BBC Sport Africa in January.

"I can be like them. They are my inspiration, knowing that they also come from Africa.

Who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or this year? Cast your vote below!

"I think when people are making those kind of comparisons, it's great, looking at the status of Sadio Mane, the kind of football he plays and the kind of person that he is."

Daka has also drawn comparisons to former Barcelona and Cameroon hero Samuel Eto'o and his brilliant four-goal showing was a timely one for Rodgers.

Leicester drew with Napoli and lost to Legia Warsaw in their opening Europa League fixtures to put their chances of reaching the knockout stage in serious doubt.

Patson Daka is showing signs of his electric Red Bull Salzburg form for Leicester City (Getty Images)

The situation grew even more bleak as the Foxes fell behind to goals from Aleksandr Sobolev and Jordan Larsson, the son of Sweden icon Henrik.

But Daka's heroics turned the match on its head and Sobolev's late strike was not enough for Spartak to pick up a point at the Otkritie Arena.

The result lifted Leicester to second in Europa League Group C ahead of Napoli's trip to Legia Warsaw on Thursday night.

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