Akintola on target as Gabon's Boupendza scores four in Hatayspor win over Antalyaspor

Gabon forward Aaron Boupendza scored four goals while Nigeria's David Akintola grabbed a goal in Hatayspor's 6-0 victory over Antalyaspor in a Turkish Super Lig match on Tuesday.

The encounter, initially scheduled for Monday, was postponed to this evening due to heavy rainfall which flooded the pitch and restricted the players from warming up.

Despite the incident, Boupendza got the visitors off to a flying start at the Antalya Stadium with his opening goal in the eighth minute and he doubled their lead in the 17th minute.

Four minutes later, the Gabon international grabbed his first career hat-trick and Akintola made it 4-0 in the 35th minute after benefitting an assist from Senegal's Mame Diouf.

Towards the end of the first-half, Boupendza linked up with his Nigerian teammate and made it 5-0 for Hatayspor while Mirkan Aydin completed the emphatic win for the visitors on the stroke of full-time.

Tuesday's heroics took Boupendza's tally to seven goals after 12 league appearances which made the 24-year-old the second-highest African goal scorer in the Turkish Super Lig after Cameroon's Vincent Aboubakar who has eight goals to his name at Besiktas.

He was replaced in the 83rd minute while Akintola was substituted in the 89th minute after taking his tally to three goals and an assist in 11 league outings in his debut Super Lig campaign.

The result brought Hatayspor back to winning ways after their 1-0 loss to Trabzonspor last Tuesday and it ensured they ended 2020 in grand style.

Murat Sonmez's side have moved up to sixth in the Turkish top-flight standings with 24 points from 14 games. They will be aiming to maintain their fine goalscoring form when they host Konyaspor for their next league outing on January 2.