Some of the finest finishers of the modern era have starred during the first three decades of the Premier League, with English football having witnessed some virtuoso goalscoring displays from a collection of football’s very best.

We’ve decided to look back at some of the greatest goalscoring performances in the division’s history, an exclusive group of players to remarkably net five times in a single Premier League fixture.

Here are the five players to score five goals in a Premier League game:

Andy Cole – Manchester United v Ipswich (1995)

The first player in Premier League history to achieve the feat was Andy Cole, the former Manchester United forward amongst the division’s most prolific goalscorers throughout much of the nineties.

Cole won the Premier League’s Golden Boot during a goal-laden spell at Newcastle before making a British transfer-record move to Old Trafford in January 1995, registering his five-goal haul during a record-breaking win over Ipswich just two months later.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side thrashed the visitors 9-0 to record a comprehensive victory on home soil, with Cole the architect of a result that still stands at the joint-biggest win in the division’s history.

The forward netted twice in the first half from close range, before completing his hat-trick soon after the restart after heading home a cross from Denis Irwin. He added a further two goals to complete a remarkable afternoon of goalscoring, with a brace from Mark Hughes and goals from Roy Keane and Paul Ince completing the rout.

Cole remains the third-highest goalscorer in Premier League history with 187 goals, just one of which came from the penalty spot.

Alan Shearer – Newcastle v Sheffield Wednesday (1999)

Few will be surprised to see the name Alan Shearer included in this list of great goalscorers, the leading marksman in Premier League history with 260 goals after record-breaking spells at Blackburn and Newcastle.

The three-time Golden Boot winner became Newcastle’s all-time leading goalscorer after making a world-record move to his boyhood side in 1996, with a five-goal haul against Sheffield Wednesday contributing towards his landmark 206 goals in the black and white of the Magpies.

Shearer became the second player in Premier League history to score five times in a single fixture during an 8-0 victory in the North East, in what was Sir Bobby Robson’s first fixture in charge at St James’ Park.

Shearer’s predatory instincts were evident as he put the visiting Owls to the sword, turning home from close range after a short corner routine before netting his second from the penalty spot.

The Newcastle number nine sealed his hat-trick following a cross from Kieron Dyer, before capitalising on a mistake from goalkeeper Kevin Pressman for his fourth and making it five with a second effort from the spot.

Jermain Defoe – Tottenham v Wigan (2009)

Defoe has proven a reliable source of goals throughout a career that has taken in spells at five different Premier League clubs, though the former England international is perhaps best remembered for two stints at Tottenham.

The forward’s most memorable performance during his time with the north London club came during a thrashing of Wigan Athletic at White Hart Lane in 2009, Spurs running rampant against the struggling visitors to secure their biggest ever Premier League win.

Somewhat incredibly, the game was poised at just 1-0 to the home side at the interval, Peter Crouch’s header the difference at half-time before Defoe stole the show in ruthless fashion after the break.

Defoe scored three times in the space of just seven second half minutes to put Spurs firmly in control – the second fastest hat-trick in Premier League history at that time – before Aaron Lennon made it five just minutes later.

Defoe added two more goals with a display of clinical finishing against the hapless visitors to take his personaly tally to five, with late goals from David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar securing a record 9-1 victory for Tottenham.

Dimitar Berbatov – Manchester United v Blackburn (2010)

Just one year after Defoe’s five-goal showing, Manchester United’s Berbatov became the fourth player in Premier League history to achieve the feat after a masterclass of finishing against Blackburn at Old Trafford.

The Bulgarian international brought a touch of class to the United side during a four-year spell that included two Premier League titles, with the forward demonstrating his full repertoire of talents during a 7-1 destruction a decade ago.

Berbatov put on a finishing clinic for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, turning home Nani’s cross to end a goal drought before capitalising on a poor back pass from Pascal Chimbonda to fire home his second.

His third, however, showcased the brilliant best of Berbatov, beginning the move deep inside his own half by nonchalantly exchanging passes with Patrice Evra to play United out of defensive trouble.

After spraying a perfect outside-of-the-boot pass wide to the marauding Nani, the forward made his way to the penalty area where he capped the move he started, firing home the Portuguese winger’s cut-back in emphatic style.

Berbatov added two more goals to his collection from close range to complete a thumping victory, becoming the first foreign player in history to score five times in a Premier League fixture.

Sergio Aguero – Manchester City v Newcastle (2015)

The most recent inclusion on this list and a player who has scored at an unprecedented rate since arriving in English football nine years ago, Sergio Aguero scored five times during Manchester City’s 6-1 thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad in 2015.

The Argentine superstar headed home just before half-time to cancel out Aleksandr Mitrovic’s opener for the visitors, before scoring four times in just 13 minutes during a second-half blitz to write himself into the history books.

Aguero’s haul saw him become the fastest player in the league’s history to score five times in a single fixture, his salvo coming within the space of 20 minutes either side of the break and remarkably coming from just seven shots.

It was a clinical display of finishing from one of the Premier League’s all-time greats, Aguero becoming the highest scoring foreign player in the division’s history with a hat-trick against Aston Villa earlier this season.

Read – 10 of the greatest solo goals in Premier League history