Prso hits four in record scoreline
MONACO, France -- Dada Prso hit four goals as AS Monaco thrashed Deportivo Coruna 8-3 to charge clear of the Spaniards in Champions League Group C on Wednesday.
The scoreline at the Stade Velodrome set a competition record of 11 goals in one match.
It eclipsed the aggregate of nine goals when Paris St Germain beat Rosenborg of Norway 7-2 in the Champions League in October 2000.
Prso becomes only the third player to claim four in one Champions League.
Marco van Basten (AC Milan) scored all his team's goals against IFK Gothenburg in a 4-0 win in November 1992 and Simone Inzaghi hit four in Lazio's 5-1 win over Olympique Marseille eight years later.
"I'm very happy, it feels great," said Prso who was also celebrating his 29th birthday. "It's the first time I've scored four -- in training I've scored a hat-trick."
Monaco coach Didier Deschamps said: "It's difficult to grasp. It's an extraordinary moment to beat a side like Deportivo 8-3 in the Champions League.
"It's the sort of thing that is unthinkable."
Monaco lead the group with nine points followed by Deportivo on seven and PSV Eindhoven on six after their 2-0 win over AEK Athens also on Wednesday.
French league leaders Monaco led 5-2 at halftime against a hapless Deportivo whose defense committed a stream of schoolboy errors .
Prso's goals came after 25, 29, 45 and 49 minutes and his was the second fastest Champions League hat-trick after Mike Newell's for Blackburn v Rosenborg in 1996.
Deportivo took shell-shocked keeper Jose Molina off at the break but his replacement Gustavo Munua picked the ball out of the net twice within five minutes as Prso scored again and Jaroslav Plasil added a seventh.
Diego Tristan, one of the few Deportivo players to shine, scored his second in the 52nd minute but Edouard Cisse made it 8-3 in front of a disbelieving Monaco crowd, including Prince Rainier.
The first half had started with a bang and contained seven goals.
Meanwhile, second-half goals by Wilfred Bouma and Arjen Robben revived PSV Eindhoven's chances in Group C as they beat AEK Athens 2-0.
PSV coach Guus Hiddink said his side still faced a tough task to qualify for the knockout phase, with games left against Monaco (away) and Deportivo (home).
"It will be difficult in the last two matches. We will first play at Monaco and tonight they showed their strength," he said.
"When I heard their score at halftime and at the end I hardly could believe it."
