Bang in form, Robert Lewandowski enjoyed a productive night of national service as Poland eviscerated Armenia to the tune of 6-1 in Yerevan.
The Bayern Munich striker helped himself to a hat-trick to leave Poland needing to take just one point against Denmark in their final qualifier to book a berth at Russia 2018.
Lewa’s first goal, a neat 20-yard freekick, saw him equal the record of Poland’s all-time top goalscorer Wlodzimierz Lubanski by bringing up his 48th international goal…
Lewandowski then surpassed Lubanski’s tally just a few minutes later by way of a lesser-spotted direct freekick inside the area that he blasted low through the Armenian defensive blockade…
Come the 64th minute, and Lewa scored his 50th goal for Poland on his 90th appearance, completing his personal treble with a far-post tap-in and leaving him out in front as his country’s all-time top goalscorer…
His third goal of the evening was also Lewandowski’s 15th goal of Poland’s Group E campaign which, as things stand, marks a new record for goals scored during a single UEFA qualification program.
Back in August, Cristiano Ronaldo equalled the previous record of 14 (set by Pedrag Mijatovic in 1998) with a hat-trick for Portugal against the Faroe Islands, meaning the pair are now vying to finish at the top of the shop.
As such, the record may well end up being updated in real time for the remainder of the Russia 2018 preliminaries, with Portugal having two games left for Ronaldo to chase the record in and Poland only one.
The race, as they say, is on.