BERLIN: Germany winger Andre Schurrle claimed the first hat-trick of his career on Tuesday as Wolfsburg routed bottom side Hanover 96 4-0 away in the German league.
It was Schuerrle’s cross at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana which saw Mario Goetze score Germany’s winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final.
But the 25-year-old Schuerrle has struggled to hold down a first-team place since joining Wolfsburg from Chelsea a year ago.
However, he needed just 26 minutes to score three goals before Germany team-mate Julian Draxler added Wolfsburg’s fourth at Hanover’s HDI Arena.
Schuerrle opened the scoring by firing home Draxler’s pass in off the post on 36 minutes.
He doubled his tally on 59 minutes and then claimed his third less than three minutes later when he chested the ball down and fired home with a superb shot.
It will boost his standing at Wolfsburg and in this one game he has scored more goals than in his previous 33 matches for the Champions League side.
He could have finished with four goals after his chip went just wide of the post before Draxler netted Wolfsburg’s fourth on 69 minutes.
The win leaves Wolfsburg eighth while Hanover are bottom and six points from safety.
