Adam Taggart recalls "unbelievable" 2020 Super Match Hat-trick

Former Suwon Samsung Bluewings striker recalls his "unbelievable" Super Match hat-trick against FC Seoul in September 2020 and, with the game played behind closed doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, that the only thing missing that day was the fans.

Suwon Samsung Bluewings head into this Saturday's Super Match against FC Seoul looking for a change in fortunes. The Bluewings are without a league win this season and sit bottom of the table, enough for manager Lee Byung-keun to be shown the door earlier in the week.

One man who helped Suwon end a win-less run of sorts was Adam Taggart who, in 2020, fired in a hat-trick against FC Seoul to earn a first Bluewings win over their bitter rivals in five seasons.

Taggart enjoyed a successful spell at Big Bird, scoring 20 goals in his first season with Suwon to win the K League golden boot in 2019 before then lifting the Korean FA Cup.

The following campaign Taggart managed to score five in two games against FC Seoul.

"Oh, it was unbelievable," he says when asked about the hat-trick. Adding: "The only thing that I think about looking back on that was it was obviously through COVID, so we didn't have the fans there. I think that was probably the only thing missing from that game because I think if we had all the Suwon supporters there Big Bird would've erupted because it was such an end-to-end game really and obviously being able to come away with what would've been a great spectacle for people So, it was an amazing feeling and an amazing whole week and day. I just wish that the fans were in there."

The day in question was September 26th, 2020. Taggart opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a left-footed strike to give Suwon a half-time lead. Park Chu-young levelled for FC Seoul eight minutes after the restart but Suwon got their noses back in front on 62 minutes with Taggart heading home before his hat-trick was complete in the 90th minute, this time with the right foot to complete the perfect hat-trick.

Taggart is back in his native Australia and playing for hometown club Perth Glory, and with the team's next fixture not until Sunday, he says he'll be tuning into this weekend's Super Match hoping that the Bluewings can turn around the difficult start to the season.

Hear what else Taggart had to say about the Super Match in this week's episode of the K League United Podcast.