Man Utd target Joao Felix bags hat-trick for Benfica as ten-man Frankfurt blow Europa League chances
Felix became the youngest ever player to score a hat-trick in the competition as the Portuguese giants put one foot in the semis
MANCHESTER UNITED target Joao Felix bagged a hat-trick for Benfica as ten-man Frankfurt blew chances in their Europa League clash.
Felix, 19, became the youngest-ever player to score a hat-trick in the Europa League as the Portuguese giants put one foot in the semi-final.
Ruben Dias also scored for Benfica, with Frankfurt's only positive coming in the form of two away goals.
Frankfurt were massively hindered by Obite Evan N'Dicka's sending off after just 20 minutes.
Felix scored from the resulting penalty, before Luka Jovic equalised for the Bundesliga side with 40 minutes on the clock.
But Felix grabbed his second with two minutes to play in the opening period to restore Benfica's lead.
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And once Dias had scored moments into the second period, the game was all-but won.
Felix grabbed his milestone treble four minutes later to seal the win.
However, Goncalo Paciencia ensured Frankfurt were still left with a sniff in the tie as he made it 4-2 on the night.
Felix's performance will have done nothing to quash his dreams of a Premier League move either, with Manchester City joining United in the race to sign the young forward.
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In fact, recent reports claim Pep Guardiola's side are in pole position after director of football Txiki Begiristain flew to Lisbon to watch the youngster in last month's 3-0 Europa League win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Super agent Jorge Mendes was also at the Estadio da Luz that night representing Juventus.
He is believed to have held initial talks over a deal with the Portuguese club’s hierarchy.