Football: Maxi hits three for Liverpool

LONDON: Maxi Rodriguez notched his second hat-trick in three matches as Liverpool thumped Fulham 5-2 at Craven Cottage to boost their chances of qualifying for the Europa League. Maxi grabbed his first goal 31 seconds into the Premier League game before the Argentine struck again in the seventh minute. Dirk Kuyt then made it 3-0 when he scored for the fifth successive match. Shell-shocked Fulham pulled one back in the 57th minute through Moussa Dembele but Maxi slammed in a fantastic long-range shot 13 minutes later and Luis Suarez added a fifth.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2011.