'Unstoppable' ex-Celtic, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest ace makes Bundesliga history with 'earthquake'

A former Celtic star has created Bundesliga history over the weekend with a performance lauded in the unstoppable category.

Oliver Burke emerged as a hot prospect within Scottish football at Nottingham Forest, making 31 appearances at his first club that earned a move to emerging German force, RB Leipzig. Born in Kirkcaldy, Burke has had a nomadic career since showing that early promise at Nottingham Forest and spent time at Celtic in 2019, winning the Premiership over his 19 appearances.

Now 28, the 13-time Scotland international was last in the UK with Birmingham City on loan from Werder Bremen. He joined Union Berlin in the summer and the former Celtic, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest man has now endeared himself with a weekend hat-trick, becoming the first Scotsman to score three times in one game at Bundesliga level.

Oliver Burke nets Union Berlin hat-trick

The powerful attacker netted before half-time then in the 53rd and 56th minute to write his name into folklore, with the Bundesliga website going gaga for Burke. They stated: “Oliver Burke shocks Frankfurt: With three goals in the 4-3 away win, the Scotsman stormed into the Bundesliga history books with 1. FC Union Berlin.

“A game that will stay with you. A striker who exploded. Oliver Burke scored a hat trick in the 4-3 away win in Frankfurt – catapulting himself into the Bundesliga history books with 1. FC Union Berlin . He's only the third Irons player ever to score three goals in a match, and the first to do so away from home. He's also the first Scot to score a hat trick in the Bundesliga.

“Burke sent the stadium into a frenzy: his first competitive goal for Union was immediately followed by a second, before the third completed the tremor. For his hurricane-like performance, Burke was named Man of the Match with 69 percent of the vote. Three goals, the fastest player of the game, unstoppable: The Burke earthquake will reverberate for a long time to come.”

What Oliver Burke said about Bundesliga hat-trick

Burke said of his performance: “That was a very intense duel. We had to stay highly concentrated every second and pushed ourselves as a team to our maximum. Every player brings different strengths to the team – and today we brought out the best from each on the pitch. We were just in the flow, and I am glad that we could celebrate the victory now with the fans.”

Boss Steffen Baumgart added in the win over Frankfurt that was inspired by their Scottish forward on the road: “Our complete match plan worked out. We knew that Frankfurt are especially dominant in possession, but that we would get our chances in transition.

“We needed calm to take advantage of these opportunities – and Oliver showed that several times. Overall, it was a very good performance, even though we all had to hold our breath briefly after the penalty. I take responsibility for the red card and unfortunately will have to watch next week.”