Matthew Hoppe has been thrown into the mix at Bundesliga strugglers Schalke, but delivered a Man of the Match performance on Saturday to help the club snap a 30-match league winless streak.
Hoppe registered his first career senior hat trick as his first career Bundesliga goals in a 4-0 home victory over Hoffenheim. He became the first American player to score a Bundesliga hat trick and is the third American to do so in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
MATTHEW HOPPE HAT TRICK!!! šŗšøšŗšøšŗšø
The 19-year-old is the first American with a Bundesliga hat trick!!! š©
— Paul-tergeist Carr (@PaulCarr) January 9, 2021
It was the hosts who took the lead going into halftime with Hoppe delivering a confident chipped finish into the back of the net. Amine Harit played a ball into the box for the American forward to chase and Hoppe did the rest, chipping Oliver Baumann into the corner of the goal.
Young American Matthew Hoppe with the cheeky chip for Schalke! š® pic.twitter.com/VNNRZE2TVz
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 9, 2021
The 19-year-old continued to cause havoc for the Hoffenheim backline, putting away two more goals in the second-half. He doubled Schalke’s lead in the 58th minute, once again putting away a through ball from Harit by rounding Baumann and tapping into an empty goal.
Hoppe capped off his stellar day by completing his hat trick in the 63rd minute, tucking away Harit’s third assist of the match with a poke finish past Baumann.
MATTHEW HOPPE HAT TRICK!
Schalke are on the verge of snapping their 30-game winless streak š³ pic.twitter.com/OhjrjETuT3
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 9, 2021
Harit would deliver the final blow to Hoffenheim, sliding home the club’s fourth goal after a great counter attack late in the second-half.
The California native made his first team debut on November 28th in a 4-1 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach, but since has remained in contention for minutes with Schalke needing to start a climb out of the bottom three.
He also played 81 minutes in last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Hertha Berlin, but followed that up nicely with his first career senior goal. Hoppe also made his German Cup debut in a 3-1 win over lower league side Ulm.
With injuries to both Steven Skrzybski and Goncalo Paciencia, Hoppe has taken advantage of the absence of both forwards this season.
After seeing the team snap a 30-match winless run in league play on Saturday, Hoppe will now aim to help Schalke make it two wins out of two in a trip to Eintracht Frankfurt on January 17th.
Mathew Hoppe and Amine Harit…..WOW!!!!
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Hope this is the beginning of something special….
What an amazing game for Schalke and the teen American, Matthew Hoppe! Not only Hoppe scored a hat trick, Schalke’s Moroccan midfielder, #25 Amine Harit had 3 assists and also scored a goal himself in this game.
The German Schalke threads Transfermarket, were hilarious. This kid has scored a bunch of goals in 2 preseasons for Regional team and then done nothing. Wasnāt even a starter. Basically a late game sub. Desperation, professionalism and hard work got him a shot. He hasnāt looked out of place in his appearances for the first team, but the same lack of goal instinct was there. When he basically decided not to shoot on a 1 v1 w the keeper before he scored the Schalke fans went nuts. No idea how to score. What do u expect from a D3 sub, on to the next player, etc. Then three top class finishes!?!?! The joy and shock were hilarious to observe. Here is hoping this was a ātrue breakoutā. A lot of good things there. Fingers crossed.
Wow, where did he come from? And the last one was a chip from the outside of his right foot. Boy, the future is looking bright.
Heās a Barca Academy guy. Only had 5 g in 20 appearances for Schalke U19s last season and 1 g in 16 app for Schalke II this season before joining the first team. Letās see if he can consistently score before we get too excited.
An Arizona Barca Academy
To be clear….he was mostly a late game sub for Schalke II. His positive professional, attitude, hard work and enthusiasm are the biggest reasons he has been given a shot in Shalkeās desperate circumstances. Attitude and fight mean just as much as ability in their situation. His passing is still weak, and doesnāt look up to speed at this level yet. Hold up play and aerial game isnāt great. He does run channels like s seasoned pro. He has a nose for space. His finishing has left much to be desired. As I said he score boatloads in both preseasons, been given a large role, and has been relegated to late game bench as he simply couldnāt finish. Is this a true mental break through, or a glorious aberration? Hereās hoping. For a young striker all it can take is confidence and breaking through that mental wall.. The quality of those finishes was very high. There is something there. Hereās hoping he keeps growing.
Yes, LZ should have been more clear Barca Academy in Casa Grande. Also produced Caden Clark and Julian Araujo.
Three kick-a$$ finishes. Atta boy!
Hat trick!
And another!