Angel Di Maria was unstoppable on Thursday night as his hat-trick inspired Juventus to a second-leg playoff round victory against Nantes in the UEFA Europa League.
After the 1-1 outcome in the first-leg in Turin, Nantes failed to find that same grit on home soil as Di Maria preyed on the Canaries defence.
The Argentine scored a sensational goal just five minutes in, but as the host tried to regroup, the World Cup winner struck again, this time he won a penalty in the 18th minute off Nicolas Pallois; which also saw the player sent off.
Di Maria stepped up and converted to double Juventus’ lead and compile the troubles of Antoine Kombouare.
Two goals down and a man sent off it was always going to be an uphill task from Nantes to turn the tie around, yet the Old Lady wasn’t done and it was the hero of the night, Di Maria, who sealed the victory with another sumptuous finish.
Meanwhile, Nigerian winger Moses Simon returned to the starting XI for Nantes, from his Ligue 1 outing last weekend.
Simon was, however, o my on the pitch for Seventy-two minutes before he was replaced by Mostafa Mohamed.
