Arsenal ace Robin van Persie admits his stunning treble against Wigan Athletic was his first in pro football.
Van Persie says he feared a hat-trick was never going to happen for him.
The striker, 27, said: "It was my first ever hat-trick. I scored five goals when I was 19 for my former club Feyenoord in the Dutch Cup, against an amateur side, but that doesn't really count.
"It means a lot because I've been here a long time. I had come so close, so many times I'd scored two goals and then I hit the bar or the post and I was unlucky.
"The same thing happened today, if I'm honest, because I missed the penalty and I don't really miss (them) that often. I've only missed two in my whole career. I was disappointed with myself because maybe the occasion got to me a little bit.
"I was starting to think, 'Why can I not score a hat-trick?' It happened again last week, funnily enough, against West Ham. I scored two goals and then hit the post. I started to sort of accept it a little bit. The moment when you accept it, that's when you score one."
