UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers: Orban nets as Gent claim big advantage in first-leg

Gift Orban holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in Europe’s club competition with three goals in 205 seconds for Gent

Nigeria striker Gift Orban was on the scoresheet for Gent in their 5-1 victory over Zilina in the Uefa Europa Conference League first-leg second qualifying round, Soccernet.ng reports

Orban opened the scoring for Gent in the 23rd minute to make the scoreline 1-0 before his teammates added four more goals to gave his club a big first-leg advantage.

The 21-year-old continues to find life easy in the Europe’s third tier competition, as his 6 goals in the competition last season helped the Belgian club reached the quarterfinals, including a stunning hat-trick in 205 seconds in Gent’s 4-1 victory over Istanbul Basaksehir in the second-leg of the round of 16.

His remarkable outing saw him registered 20 goals in 22 appearances in all competitions for Gent despite only joining them in January and this has brought interest from suitors in Europe. But the Belgian club want to keep hold of him for at least one more season.

Julien De Sart, Hugo Cuypers, Tsuyoshi Watanabe added four more goals in the second half for Gent ahead of the return leg in Slovakia next week. The winner of the tie over two legs will progress to the third qualifying round.