When he left these shores in search of greener pastures in Europe in 2007, Theo Weeks wouldn’t have thought he would play the most significant match of his career so far in a little known European football country.
But on a windy night in Gabala City, the Liberian international midfielder took another giant step towards establishing himself as a key player within his new Azerbaijani team, Gabala FK, after scoring a hat-trick in the club’s Europa League qualifier at home against Samtredia Football Club.
With a capacity of just 2,000, the Gabala City Stadium may not be the biggest stage. But that never bothered Weeks, who became the first Liberian footballer to score a hat-trick in any of the two Europe’s club competition, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League.
Serbian forward Vojislav Stankovic fired Gabala ahead in the 16th minute before Russian-born Estonian striker, Sergei Zenjov, doubled the home side’s lead.
Weeks made it three for the Azerbaijani side in the 30th minute as the visitors failed to pull a goal back before the end of the first 45 minutes as Gabala walked into the dressing room with a 3-0 lead.
Back from recess, Samtredia started as the better side, as they took control of the match and pulled off two goals in the 59th and 63rd minute to reduce the score difference before Weeks got his second goal of the match in the 69th minute to make the score 4-2.
The Liberian midfielder killed the hopes of the visitors who were hoping to pull another two goals back in the remaining 21 minutes of the match. He completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute.
His performance in the match earned him the Man of the Match award as he walked away with the official match ball as the prize.
Gabala will take on Samtredia in the return leg on July 7. A win or draw would be enough to send them into the second qualifying round.
Featured photo courtesy of Gabal FK
