Hakimi's hat trick powers PSG to 5-1 rout of Le Havre

Josh Maja needed just 17 minutes to put the league leaders on the ropes, curling a left-footed finish from close range after a counterattack set up by Rayan Fofana, sending the Stade CMA CGM Océane into a frenzy with the 1-0. That was the last moment of hope for Le Havre. What followed was a Paris Saint-Germain exhibition that ended in a 5-1 rout in Ligue 1, with Achraf Hakimi scoring all three of his side's... three goals.

The Parisian response came quickly. In the 25th minute, Mika Godts leveled the score with a low shot from the center of the box off a Hakimi assist, and two minutes later Hakimi himself made it 1-2 with a shot that was confirmed after a VAR review. Le Havre went into halftime trailing by just one goal, but the match already had a clear direction: PSG controlled 70.7% of possession and kept creating chances.

The second half confirmed the gap between the two sides. Hakimi struck again in the 54th minute, this time from a direct free kick, making it 1-3. Senny Mayulu extended the lead in the 61st minute with a shot from outside the box after another counterattack set up by Hakimi, and the Moroccan capped off his personal performance in the 68th minute with Paris's fifth goal, also from the center of the area. In between, Le Havre had its best chance to cut the deficit when Josh Maja struck the post with a header in the 61st minute, just before PSG's fourth goal.

The numbers behind the dominance

The stats reflect exactly what played out on the field: a Paris Saint-Germain side comfortable on the ball, and a Le Havre team that could barely hold onto it.

According to our estimate based on the match's shot data, Paris Saint-Germain generated 2.48 expected goals compared to Le Havre's 1.922, a gap that doesn't fully capture how one-sided the scoreline ended up being, though it does confirm that the home side had moments of its own to threaten.

Before kickoff, our model gave Paris Saint-Germain a 76% chance of winning, against just 7% for Le Havre and 17% for a draw, with projected expected goals of 2.52 for the Parisians and 0.68 for the home team. The final result ended up being even more lopsided than projected: PSG didn't just win as expected, it piled on five goals, well beyond that initial forecast.

What it means in the standings

The result shows up in the table too. Paris Saint-Germain remains in first place with 20 points through 9 matches, while Le Havre closes out the matchday in 18th with just 2 points from 9 games, still without a win and with a goal difference of -11. The gap between the two clubs in the standings now stands at 18 points, a fair reflection of what played out on the pitch.

For Le Havre, Maja's goal will stand as a curious footnote on an afternoon to forget. For Paris Saint-Germain, the night had one name written all over it: Achraf Hakimi, the undisputed star of a rout that confirms his side's position at the top of Ligue 1.