Frank Lampard hasn’t been having the best of times in New York.
Injuries limited the former England international to just 10 appearances in his first season with New York City FC, and his first game of the 2016 campaign came in a crushing 7-0 defeat at home to the New York Red Bulls.
But the veteran has since made up for lost time, and wrote himself into club and league history on Saturday night by scoring NYCFC’s first ever MLS hat-trick.
He had already scored the club’s quickest ever goal, but the treble against the Colorado Rapids was even more impressive.
Not a bad day, huh Frank?
Lampard scores the first franchise hat trick for @NYCFC https://t.co/uu3GFOtb20
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 31, 2016
NYCFC’s 5-1 win leaves Patrick Vieira’s team top of the Eastern Conference and well on track to be seeded in the end-of-season playoffs.
Lampard now has eight goals in 11 MLS games (eight starts) this season, scoring at a rate of one goal every 86 minutes.
Only David Villa has more goals for New York City FC this season, while Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti and Portland’s Diego Valeri are the only midfielders to outscore the former Chelsea man in Major League Soccer in 2016.
Lampard missed out on a spot in the MLS All Star XI that faced Arsenal, though club team-mates Villa and Andrea Pirlo both featured.
