Gameiro downs Sporting with La Liga's fastest hat trick

The France international came close to beating David Villa's record with an astounding flurry of goals to kill off Sporting's resistance

Kevin Gameiro wrote himself into La Liga's history books with one of the fastest hat-tricks of all time for Atletico Madrid on Saturday. 

Struggling to overcome a dogged Sporting side, Diego Simeone's men were deadlocked at 1-1 when the Frenchman scored his first goal after 80 minutes. 

The ex-Sevilla man netted his second moments later with a cool finish, and rounded off his hat-trick in the 85th minute by converting from close range. 

His effort is the fastest recorded triple in the history of the division, although the list is not definitive. 

Bebeto, for example, netted three times in three minutes back in 1995 to take Albacete apart, a hat-trick that has not been officially timed.

Gameiro's three goals came in just four minutes and 43 seconds to surpass the mark of David Villa in the overall standings. 

The current MLS star had previously set the all-time record in 2006 while playing for Valencia, smashing three goals against Athletic in four minutes, 47 seconds. 

Gameiro's devastating run sealed a 4-1 win for Atletico, who remain in touch with the Liga front-runners four points shy of Real Madrid, albeit having played three more games than their city rivals.