Gameiro just behind Villa

Kevin Gameiro wrote himself into La Liga's history books with the second fastest hattrick of all-time for Atletico Madrid on Saturday afternoon as the Spanish giants claimed a crucial win against Sporting Gijon.

The win puts Atletico a point shy from 3rd placed Sevilla who have played a game less.

Struggling to overcome a dogged Sporting side, Diego Simeone's men were deadlocked at 1-1 when the Frenchman scored his first goal, after 80 minutes.

The ex-Sevilla man netted his second moments later with a cool finish, and rounded off his hattrick in the 85th minute by converting from close range.

Those three goals were Gameiro's 7th, 8th, and 9th in the league this year which pulled him level as Atletico's top scorer in the league with teammate Antoine Griezmann.

That devastating run sealed a 4-1 win for Atletico, who remain in touch with the Liga front-runners four points shy of Real Madrid, albeit having played three more games than their city rivals.

The result also leaves Sporting Gijon, who were excellent for the majority of the match, in 18th position level with Granada in 19th on 16 points.

Gameiro's triple also took him perilously close to toppling a seemingly unbeatable mark.

His three goals came in just four minutes and 51 seconds, putting him second to David Villa in the overall standings.

The current MLS star set the all-time record in 2006 while playing for Valencia, smashing three goals against Athletic in four minutes, 47 seconds.

Meanwhile the title for the fastest hattrick across all formats belongs to Sadio Mane who on 16th May 2015 beat Robbie Fowler's record when he smashed three goals past Arsenal in four minutes 33 seconds in August 1994.