Dries Mertens became the first player to score back-to-back Serie A hat-tricks in over 42 years following a superb four-goal haul in Napoli's thrilling 5-3 win over Torino.

The Belgium forward scored three times in the 5-0 battering of Cagliari last week and took home another matchball at Stadio San Paolo on Sunday.

Mertens, playing in a central role with Arkadiusz Milik still sidelined by a knee injury, needed just nine first-half minutes to clinch his hat-trick as Napoli raced into a 3-0 lead after 22 minutes.

In doing so, the 29-year-old matched the remarkable achievement of Pietro Anastasi who scored consecutive hat-tricks for Juventus in May 1974, with Mertens the first to manage the feat since Opta records began in the 1994-95 season.

The former PSV man added another by sensationally lobbing Joe Hart 10 minutes from time, becoming first player to score four goals in a Serie A match since Domenico Berardi against AC Milan in January 2014.