Achraf Hakimi’s hat trick powered Paris Saint-Germain to a five-goal win over Le Havre on Friday, lifting Luis Enrique’s side to the top of Ligue 1 ahead of the weekend. The result also showed PSG could find goals without Kvaratskhelia, a useful answer to questions about how the attack functions when a notable option is absent. One match can’t settle that question, but the range of contributors here gives Enrique something to point to: Hakimi supplied the headline, while other players helped turn the game around.
Le Havre struck first in the 18th minute, but PSG answered quickly. Hakimi turned provider, chasing down a long ball and squaring it for Mika Godts to finish. That response mattered as much for its timing as for the goal itself: an early setback can unsettle a side expected to control a match, and PSG didn’t let the deficit linger. The account of the game is simple, but the sequence says something about composure and directness.
Hakimi drives PSG’s response
Hakimi soon put PSG ahead, surging down the channel and driving a finish inside the near post. A free kick delivered to the far post extended the lead, before Senny Mayulu caught the goalkeeper out of position with a long-range effort. The goals came through different routes: a run into space, a set piece, then a shot from distance. That variety makes the result more revealing than a scoreline built around one repeated pattern.
Hakimi completed the scoring with his third goal, bursting into the box on the right and converting a pass across from Godts. PSG had turned an early deficit into a commanding win. For Hakimi, the contribution wasn’t limited to finishing: he helped create the equalizer, then became the central figure in the scoring surge. A defender producing that kind of attacking output can change the shape of a match, especially when opponents have to account for runs from wide areas as well as the forwards.
More than a one-player performance
The headline belongs to Hakimi, but PSG’s five-goal margin also depended on contributions beyond his hat trick. Godts appears in both the opening response and the final goal, while Mayulu added a score of his own. That’s a broader set of attacking contributions than a result driven by one player alone. It doesn’t establish how PSG will perform across a run of matches, but it does show that the team had more than one way to hurt Le Havre on this occasion.
This is more significant than it looks. A team’s options are tested when a familiar attacking player is unavailable, and PSG’s win offers evidence that other routes to goal can still work. The evidence has limits: a single match can’t prove that the same balance will hold against every opponent, or that the absent player’s role has been replaced. Still, Hakimi’s involvement as both provider and scorer, alongside goals from Godts and Mayulu, gives the result substance beyond a routine win.
And yet, the first goal belongs in the story too. Le Havre scored in the 18th minute, so PSG had to respond rather than simply build an advantage from the start. How a side reacts to that kind of setback can matter as much as how it performs once ahead. PSG answered quickly, then added goals through several types of actions. A sharp recovery, followed by a sustained attack.
What the result means for PSG
Moving to the top of Ligue 1 ahead of the weekend gives PSG a favorable position in the immediate standings, but the timing matters: other matches are still to come. The result establishes where Luis Enrique’s side stood after Friday’s game, not where it’ll finish. That distinction is easy to lose when a large win and a first-place position arrive together. The performance is encouraging; the table remains subject to the rest of the weekend.
If you’re working in this space, the useful question is what PSG can repeat. The account here points to pace in transition, a threat from wide areas and the ability to score from a free kick or from distance. Those are observations about this match, not a guarantee that every opponent will leave the same openings. Le Havre’s early goal also reminds readers that the final score doesn’t describe every phase of the contest.
Watch the match highlights below:
[Footage from Sky Sports]
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Before kickoff, Luis Enrique praised Desire Doue, who had impressed again. That pre-match note adds context to the broader picture around the squad: the coach was discussing a player’s form even as PSG prepared for a game that would be decided by several different contributors. It’s a reminder that the match sits within an ongoing season, where selection and individual performances remain part of the conversation.
PSG aren’t planning to pursue new players in January despite their injury problems. The large win may strengthen the case for trusting the current group, though one result can’t answer how injuries will affect the team over time. There’s a practical distinction between having enough options to win a particular match and having the depth to manage a longer stretch of absences. The source doesn’t settle that question.
Goncalo Ramos has discussed his summer exit from PSG and the frustrations of his time at the club. Readers can also add PSG Talk as a preferred source on Google. Together, the surrounding stories cover the pressures that sit behind a match report: player development, squad availability and the experiences of players who’ve left. For Friday, though, the clearest takeaway is on the pitch: PSG recovered from conceding first and found goals through multiple players, with Hakimi at the center of the turnaround.