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FARID El Alagui has set his sights on netting a more conventional ‘hat-trick’ against old club Falkirk next weekend after finding the net three times for Dunfermline in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Queen’s Park.
The 31-year-old only entered the fray at half-time as the Pars struggled to see off their IRN-BRU Cup opponents but was still the game’s most important figure in an action-packed 45 minutes.
Just three minutes after coming on, the French-Moroccan earned Dunfermline the breakthrough with an instinctive finish at a corner and nodded in an excellent Joe Cardle cross for a second in the 62nd minute.
A few minutes to kick-off in the #IRNBRUCUP tie between @officialdafc & @queensparkfc #DAFC #COYP @irnbrufootball pic.twitter.com/oJoh7U93M9
— Capital City Press (@CCP_sport) October 8, 2016
He still had half an hour to rack up his hat-trick but his third strike did not quite go according to plan as he skewed a header into his own net from Darren Miller’s 70th-minute corner.
“That’s the first time I’ve scored an own goal,” he said, “but luckily it didn’t have a bad impact on the game because we managed to get through.
“But it’s not a nice feeling. When I saw the ball go in I thought ‘oh no, what have I done!’.
“Unfortunately that’s football, you can be the hero scoring two goals – and then the bad one scoring an own goal.
“But I’m just pleased we went through and I will try to forget about that one.”
INTERESTING
El Alagui has now scored three times – at the right end – in his last three matches for Dunfermline and is in the kind of form that means he is relishing the next two games, against old sides Falkirk and Hibernian.
He accepts he may not have done enough to start against Falkirk on Saturday but is dreaming of marking his return to Falkirk, where he was a massive fans’ favourite, with a hat-trick at the right end.
“There are two games coming along that will be interesting for me,” he continued. “We have Falkirk and then after that we have Hibs as well. It’s an interesting month.
“When I signed I was pleased to see those fixtures. It’s good, it’s exciting and, for the fans, they will be great games as well. That’s football, that’s why we love the game and hopefully there will be some great games.
“I will try to come in after the next game with the ball in my hand and definitely for a hat-trick in the right side this time!”
