KARACHI: If Kaleemullah continues his goal-scoring form he could well draw some admiring glances from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The striker scored his fourth hat-trick in five games on Sunday, a goal-scoring return that is usually heard of when Barcelona’s Messi and Real Madrid’s Ronaldo are in their best form.

The Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL), though, it a long way away from the heady heights of La Liga and while Ronaldo and Messi compete at the highest level of football, Kaleemullah’s efforts have at least lit up the domestic football scene in Pakistan.

His treble on Sunday helped defending champions Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) crush Baloch FC 4-0 at Lahore’s Railways Football Stadium and go three points clear at the top of the PPFL.

KRL have 34 points from 14 games with Army in second after a return of 31 points from 15 games.

Kaleemullah opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Saadullah doubled KRL’s lead when he struck in the 42nd. Kaleemullah’s second in the 45th helped KRL go into the break 3-0 up before he completed his hat-trick with a 57th minute strike.

“Kaleemullah is an exceptional talent,” KRL coach Tariq Lutfi told Dawn from Lahore. “He has that exceptional ability to dribble and shoot that make him stand out from the rest.”

Lutfi said that his star player even has an attitude of a top player and needed a lot of counselling as he is a fire-brand.

“Top players have their egos and Kaleemullah is no exception,” Lutfi said. “We took him at a very young age and he is a player who can turn around any game.”

On is ability to perform at the international level, Lutfi said: “The Pakistan national team need a goal-scorer… they need someone like Kaleemullah.”

Also in Lahore, basement side Wohaib FC held Pakistan Navy to a 1-1 draw to go to five points from 13 games after a stunning display in goal by Waqas Ahmed.Waqas made several key saves as Wohaib withstood intense Navy pressure as they pressed for victory.

Noman had given Wohaib the lead in the 47th minute at the UMT Football Ground but Abdul Haq’s leveller gave Navy a share of the points to take their tally to 19 from 16 games.

Meanwhile, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) beat Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) 1-0 at the Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad after Azhar-ul-Haq scored in the 12th minute to take them to 14 points from as many games.

Elsewhere in Peshawar, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) were held to a goalless draw at home by Karachi Port Trust (KPT). The point helped KPT to 16 from 14 games while PAF have 28 from 15 matches.

Monday’s fixtures: Wapda v Muslim FC (Railways Football Stadium, Lahore); PMC Athletico v Afghan FC (PMC Football Ground, Faisalabad); Army v KESC (Army Stadium, Rawalpindi).