Jonathan Pereira, the new hero for Valladolid

One player more than anyone stood out during Real Valladolid’s exceptional 1-5 win over RCD Mallorca: Jonathan Pereira. The Galician, who joined in January transfer window to reinforce the Castile and León outfit, was the hero thanks to an unforgettable performance that saw him score three goals and provide two assists.

Pereira is the living embodiment of the saying ‘sometimes you have to take a step backwards to move forward’. After leaving life in the Liga BBVA, where he only managed to clock up 113 minutes of playing with Rayo Vallecano, the Vigo-born striker has set the Liga Adelante alight and become Valladolid’s main man, keeping the team’s hopes of promotion alive. "That is why he’s here", said the manager, Joan Francesc Ferrer 'Rubi', in his post-match press conference. 

The first hat-trick of his career

Despite having extensive experience of Spanish football, Jonathan Pereira had never before known what it felt like to score three goals in a single game. He broke that duct in one of the best ways imaginable, by deciding a match in which Valladolid were made to come back from behind in order to stay hot on the tails of the league leaders.

His first goal came in the 18th minute, when he equalised with a tight left-footed finish into the far corner of the net after setting himself up beautifully with a lob. He put the home team in front for the first time five minutes late, this time with his right foot, after making the most of a Johan Mojica pass. He capped off his hat-trick in the 49th minute following some great link-up play with Óscar González and rounded off his afternoon by turning provider on two occasions.

Three is the magic number

Now that he has scored three goals in one game, Jonathan Pereira will looking to complete another special kind of hat-trick: a third promotion to the Liga BBVA.

His first promotion happened while with Real Betis, during the 2010-11 campaign. That team, with big name players like Beñat Etxebarría, Achille Emaná and the unstoppable Rubén Castro, won the Liga Adelante title under Pepe Mel’s stewardship.

Two seasons later, in the 2012-13 campaign, Pereira joined Villarreal CF during the winter transfer window and once again tasted a return to the best competition in the world. Now, the Galician front man is keeping the dream of history repeating itself alive yet again, albeit with Valladolid this time.