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Emmanuel Adebayor credits Arsenal greats for hat trick against Galatasaray

Emmanuel Adebayor credited his former Arsenal and Real Madrid teammates after his hat trick helped Istanbul Basaksehir to a 4-0 win over city rivals Galatasaray.

Former Arsenal, Manchester City, Madrid and Tottenham striker Adebayor, 33, slotted into an empty net for the opener on 11 minutes and headed home his second just before the break.

He completed the hat trick with a header just before the hour mark after good work from Junior Caicara down the flank.

Mustafa Pektemek, who replaced Adebayor, added the final goal with four minutes to play.

Adebayor, who said his opener was one of the easiest he had ever scored, told reporters after the game: "I think it was my first hat trick since Real Madrid [an 8-1 win over Almeria in May 2011].

"I owe it to the great players I played with like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and [Cristiano] Ronaldo -- this is for them and what I learned from them."

Adebayor has scored five goals for Basaksehir since joining them as a free agent earlier in January after a spell with Crystal Palace.

Basaksehir now sit five points behind leaders Besiktas with seven games remaining.

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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