THELO AASGAARD has yet to get off the mark for Rangers.
But the new Ibrox recruit lit things up on international duty – with a helping hand from a certain Erling Haaland.
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Aasgaard, 23, was a £3.5million signing for Rangers from Luton this summer.
But an injury suffered in pre-season meant he was forced to watch on from the sidelines as the Gers got their European campaign underway in mid-July.
Aasgaard eventually made his debut for the club as a substitute during the 4-2 win over Alloa in the Premier Sports Cup in August.
After another sub appearance against Club Brugge at Ibrox, he went on to start the next three matches.
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That included a start out of position as the centre-forward in the 1-1 draw against St Mirren in Paisley.
Many were surprised to see Russell Martin use Aasgaard as a striker, with other more natural forwards in the match day squad.
However, he showed exactly how deadly he can be in front of goal on international duty last night.
Norway continued their 100 per-cent start to World Cup qualifying with an absolutely thumping ELEVEN-ONE win over Moldova.
By the time Aasgaard was brought on as a substitute on 64 minutes, Norway were already 6-0 up.
Four of those had been scored by Man City superstar Erling Haaland.
But the relentless Norwegians were certainly far from done, and Aasgaard struck three minutes after coming off the bench.
12 minutes later, he’d netted a hat-trick of his own.
And he did so after a touching gesture from Haaland.
Norway were awarded a 79th minute penalty and most would’ve expected Haaland to step up in an attempt to score his fifth of the game.
The former Borussia Dortmund striker did indeed grab the match ball.
However, in a brilliant moment, he instead handed the ball to Aasgaard – gifting the Rangers man his own chance to net an international treble.
It was an opportunity he grabbed to make it 9-1 on the night.
Haaland, as you might expect, did indeed go on to score his fifth of the game just four minutes later.
Aasgaard would then take his own tally to FOUR on an incredible night for Norway, rounding-off the scoring with the 11th and final goal in added time.
It was a night Aasgaard will hope can really kick-start his campaign.
Speaking afterwards, the smiling Gers man hailed Haaland’s brilliant gesture of handing him the match ball.
And he also revealed exactly what the Man City superstar said to him as he passed over the responsibility.
After the match, Aasgaard said to VG: “It’s just an amazing moment, my family were there in the stands. It was a proud moment.
“That just says everything about his (Haaland’s) character, I think we all know all know it already.
“He’s desperate to score goals so for him to give me a penalty is amazing.
“I knew he was a good guy and I was just very pleased.”
Aasgaard added: “He just said ‘do you want it?’
“So I said ‘yes, of course!'”
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Hat-tricks are of course special moments in football and the scorer of a treble gets to take away the match ball.
Two players netting a hat-trick in the one game is rather rare!
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But any concerns about Haaland and Aasgaard perhaps having to argue over who got to take the ball home were quickly put to rest!
Norway posted a picture from inside the dressing room after the game showing BOTH players with a match ball of their own.
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