Evan Ferguson continued his meteoric rise with a stunning hat-trick against Newcastle on Saturday.
Ferguson was the star of the show and put Newcastle to the sword as Brighton continued their fine start to the season with a 3-1 win.
The 18-year-old pounced on a spilled ball from Nick Pope to open the scoring in the 27th minute before curling home a beautiful second in the 65th minute.
Five minutes later, Ferguson secured the first hat-trick of his professional career when his left-footed strike wrongfooted Pope.
The Bettystown native was replaced by James Milner in the 81st minute and received a standing ovation from the Amex faithful as he soaked in the congratulations from his manager Roberto De Zerbi.
His stunning performance has seen the young man earn huge praise from football fans, journalists and pundits the World over.
"What a player he is," wrote football journalist Miguel Delaney on X before adding "Quite an unusual situation for Ireland to have someone who is in a position that is currently at an absolute premium in world football - and he's so good."
Irish Independent journalist Dan McDonnell chose to have some fun at Newcastle's expense and wrote "Evan Ferguson delivering the best Irish performance against Saudi Arabia since 2002."
Since last season, Gary Lineker has been a huge fan of Ferguson and the legendary striker had a simple message to deliver after the teenager's great performance.
"He’ll score a lot of goals will Evan Ferguson," said the Match of the Day host.
Another X user pointed out how Ferguson's run of form could benefit his former club Bohemians in the long run.
"Bohs gonna have enough to build a new stadium and still have a few mil left over the way Evan Ferguson is going."
"Evan Ferguson is a special, special player," wrote Daniel Hussey.
"If Brighton got 115 mill from Caicedo, how much will Evan Ferguson eventually end up going for?" said another user.
A number of Irish football fans also expressed excitement at the future the youngster could have for the National side.
"Evan Ferguson's second goal was a worldie."
"EVAN FERGUSON HAT-TRICK WOW WOW WOW."
"WHAT A GOAL EVAN FERGUSON!!! Great to see him flying ahead of the international window!"
