Mythbuster Patrick Bamford sets record straight with first Leeds United hat-trick

The centre-forward scored all three second-half goals as the Whites won 3-0 at an Aston Villa side who had not lost or even gone behind in their opening five matches of the Premier League season.

It took his tally for the campaign to six, and his career total to seven, having only scored once in 27 appearances for his previous top-division clubs. That caused some to question if he was capable of scoring goals at the highest level, and the grin on his face as he clutched the matchball at full-time showed how delighted he was to prove them wrong.

Laughably, in the build-up to the game, one journalist had written Leeds coach Marcelo Bielsa off as a “myth”, despite the newly-promoted side's strong start to the season – the win put them up to third, albeit having played more games than the rest – and Bamford seemed to enjoy showing that up as nonsense just as much.

“I don't count the first lot (of Premier League appearances) because I was always playing two minutes off the bench, five minutes here and there,” said the former Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Burnley striker. “This time I've got a manager who believes in me. As long as I keep working hard, he'll keep trusting me so it's up to me to make sure I keep helping the team as much as I can and I'm sure he'll keep showing the faith.”

Having Bielsa's belief has filled Bamford with self-confidence, topped up by goals in his first three matches of the season. It allowed him to shrug off missing a diving header and a chance from a Jack Harrison cross to score a tap-in, a long-distance shot, and a curling finish after some quick feet. Likewise, his team moved on quickly from the disappointment of outplaying Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, but losing 1-0.

“I should have scored the second one, no doubt, but I knew I'd get another chance and I got three,” he said.

“We look back at the Wolves game and we were possibly a bit unlucky to come away with nothing. Maybe we deserved to win it but they produced a good solid game.

“Villa were on a very good run and they're a good team.

“Someone was saying in the press that Bielsa was a myth but I think we showed Leeds are here to compete and give a good account of ourselves.”

Bielsa was repeatedly criticised last season for standing by Bamford, and although Leeds paid a club record £27m for Spain centre-forward Rodrigo in the summer, he has largely been used in midfield, where he excelled in the west Midlands.

“I'm very happy for him and they were all very nice goals,” Bielsa said of Bamford. “They are some of the nicest goals he has scored for us.

“It was a good (team) performance, better in the second half but the first half was also good.

“We defended well, we attacked well and we had the luck to score before they did as they had a few chances as well.”

Bielsa showed his decisiveness in the first half, substituting Pascal Struijk after a difficult opening 22 minutes in a holding midfield role.

“He got a yellow card early on and there was a lot of agility and mobility in the middle of the park, so I wanted to take him off as a result,” he explained. “After the yellow card he also had another foul which was at the limit, and this worried me.”

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith thought the defeat was down to a combination of his side's mental fragility after Bamford pounced on the rebound from a Rodrigo shot after 56 minutes and Leeds's brilliance.

“I thought we lost the game after the first goal,” he reflected. “We got too disillusioned and disappointed and they were very good.

“You've got to give Leeds credit as well – their work-rate, work ethic and the football they played in the last 40 minutes was very good.

“I don't want to take credit away from Leeds, they were very good.”

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