BERLIN, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Michael Gregoritsch's first-half hattrick secured Freiburg a crucial 5-0 victory over Olympiacos and helped the Breisgauer climb top of Europa League Group A on Thursday.
Christian Streich's men made a fairy-tale start in front of their home crowd, as Maximilian Eggestein's cross into the box allowed Gregoritsch to head home the opener into the top corner with just three minutes gone.
Freiburg gained momentum and made it 2-0 five minutes later after Ritsu Doan's corner found Gregoritsch, who scored another header.
The uninspired visitors from Greece were lucky in the 20th minute as Gregoritsch wasted a promising chance after pulling wide from six meters.
The Austria international remained in the thick of things and completed his hat-trick after nodding home Jordy Makengo's pinpoint cross with 36 minutes played.
Olympiacos needed a win to maintain their chances of progressing to the knockout stages, but had a mountain to climb as Freiburg made it 4-0 after Gregoritsch provided the groundwork for Kiliann Sildillia, who fired past the helpless Alexandros Paschalakis from close range in the dying minutes of the first half.
Olympiacos' resilience was broken while Freiburg played more conservatively after the restart, though Doan finished off a failed clearance attempt into the top left to round off the 5-0 victory in the 77th minute.
"It's my first hat-trick as a professional. I enjoy this so much. The last few weeks haven't always been easy. But today was a wonderful evening, a great team performance," said Gregoritsch.
"That was a great evening. We played great games in the Europa League, that's something very special," said Freiburg coach Streich. ■
