Achraf Hakimi had the best night of his career on Friday. The right-back scored a hat-trick and set up two more goals as Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to win 5-1 at Le Havre.
Hakimi had a hand in all five PSG goals. It was the first hat-trick of his career, and the win left PSG two points clear at the top of Ligue 1.
A bad start, then five goals
Le Havre went ahead at the Stade Océane through Josh Maja after 18 minutes. The lead did not last long. Mika Godts made it 1-1 from a Hakimi assist, and two minutes later Hakimi scored himself to put PSG in front.
He added his second goal ten minutes after half-time. Senny Mayulu then scored from another Hakimi pass, and Hakimi completed his hat-trick in the 69th minute.
“It’s a great evening for me, especially because we won, but also because it’s my first hat-trick,” Hakimi told the club’s media after the game. “It wasn’t easy, we started by conceding a goal, but we showed our spirit.”
“The best right-back in the world”
Luis Enrique was full of praise for his defender. He called Hakimi “the best right-back in the world”.
The coach also admitted his team had problems early on. “We started the game with the same focus as usual, but we struggled on the counter-attack,” he said. “We created lots of chances and saw our players perform at a very high level, so we’re happy.”
A record for Luis Enrique
The result was Luis Enrique’s 127th win in all competitions as PSG coach. That is a new club record. He had shared the record with Laurent Blanc, who won 126 games, and now has it on his own.
PSG have now won nine games in a row in all competitions. They have 20 points from nine league games, two more than Lille.
Our take
Full-backs are not supposed to score hat-tricks, but Hakimi has never played like a normal full-back. He is often the player furthest forward on the right, and on Friday every attack seemed to go through him.
The bigger story might be PSG’s form. Nine straight wins is the kind of run that wins titles, and Luis Enrique’s team look ready for the big Champions League nights to come.
Is Hakimi the best right-back in the world right now? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Achraf Hakimi by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Mika Godts by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Stade Océane by Philippe Alès (CC BY-SA 4.0).
