Any Premier League hat-trick is a special moment (in what other situation do you get to keep the match ball, after all?), but a select few have been even more worthy of celebration.
The Premier League has seen over 200 hat-tricks in its 30-year history – but the vast majority of those have been scored by players who started the match.
A select few have hit hat-tricks as substitutes, though – and as Son Heung-min becomes the seventh name on an elite list, FourFourTwo runs through them all.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Nottingham Forest 1-8 Manchester United, 6 February 1999)
While he lived up to his super-sub reputation to even more significant effect in that season's Champions League final, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made history in February 1999 by becoming the first player to score a Premier League hat-trick after coming on as a substitute.
Manchester United were already 4-1 up at the City Ground when, in the 72nd minute, Sir Alex Ferguson sent on the 'the baby-faced assassin' – who actually bagged four goals (a feat which, surprisingly enough, has yet to be repeated by a substitute) as Nottingham Forest were put to the sword.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea 5-2 Wolves, 27 March 2004)
Five years later, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink celebrated his 32nd birthday by firing Chelsea (at that point still in with an outside chance of catching Arsenal's Invincibles in the title race) to a comfortable win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge.
Introduced on the hour mark with the scores level at 2-2, the Dutchman put Claudio Ranieri's Blues ahead in the 77th minute – before adding a second 10 minutes later then completing his third of four Premier League hat-tricks in stoppage time.
Robert Earnshaw (Charlton 1-4 West Brom, 19 March 2005)
Robert Earnshaw made it a hat-trick of hat-tricks by Premier League substitutes as his three goals ensured West Brom left The Valley with all three points in March 2005.
Charlton had been down to 10 men since midway through the first half but looked like they were going to hang on for a point – until Earnshaw came on and made history as the first (and, so far, only) player to score a hat-trick in each of the top four divisions of English football, completing the set with an 89th-minute penalty.
Emmanuel Adebayor (Derby 2-6 Arsenal, 28 April 2008)
In 2007/08, Emmanuel Adebayor enjoyed the best goalscoring campaign of his career as he netted 30 times in all competitions – reaching the milestone with this hat-trick at Pride Park.
Derby fans must have been sick of the sight of Adebayor: remarkably, the Togolese striker had already notched a hat-trick against the Rams as Arsenal thrashed them 5-0 at the Emirates earlier in the season.
Romelu Lukaku (West Brom 5-5 Manchester United, 19 May 2013)
Sir Alex Ferguon's final game as Manchester United manager before retiring was one of the most bonkers in Premier League history – and it featured the first of three Premier League hat-tricks for Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian netted within five minutes of coming on as a half-time substitute – then scored twice in the final quarter of an hour as West Brom fought back from 5-2 down to secure a point against the champions.
Steven Naismith (Everton 3-1 Chelsea, 12 September 2015)
We often hear about players seizing their opportunity. Well, Steven Naismith did that and then some as he inspired Everton to this memorable win over Chelsea at Goodison Park.
Unlike the other players on this list, the Scot wasn't a half-time or second-half introduction – he replaced the injured Muhamed Besic after nine minutes – but he showed Toffees boss Roberto Martinez that he was wrong to leave him out from the start (then never scored for Everton again and left for Norwich four months later...).
Son Heung-min (Tottenham 6-2 Leicester, 17 September 2022)
After racking up 23 goals in 2021/22 to share the Golden Boot with Mo Salah, Son Heung-min just couldn't get going at the start of 2022/23: Tottenham's South Korea superstar drew a blank in each of his first eight outings in all competitions.
Consequently, Antonio Conte dropped the forward for the visit of Leicester – a move which certainly seemed to do the trick...
Brought on in the 59th minute, Son put Spurs 4-2 up 14 minutes later – and went on to complete a 14-minute hat-trick. There are worse ways to open your account for the season!
