How Achraf Hakimi Inspired PSG’s 5-1 Rout of Le Havre Ahead of Villarreal Test
Ben McAleer
Paris Saint-Germain face Villarreal in the Champions League next week. Logic, then, dictates that Luis Enrique rotates his side in order to keep his squad fresh for European duties.
And the Spaniard lived up to expectations as the likes of Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Desire Doue all dropped out of the XI to face Le Havre on Friday night. The trio, among others, are expected to start against the Spanish giants in midweek.
That’s not to say that PSG didn’t have enough in the tank to get the better of Le Havre at the Stade CMA CGM Oceane to kick off the weekend’s Ligue 1 action. Indeed, the Parisian powerhouse made light work of the Sky-and-Navy on the northern coast to kick off gameweek nine as Enrique oversaw a fine 5-1 win.
Hakimi writes history in Paris: three goals and two assists on an unforgettable night
PSG surprisingly fell behind to a Josh Maja strike. The early Le Havre effort did little but provoke the beast. PSG quickly returned to form eight minutes after going behind as Mika Godts restored parity midway through the first half. PSG were ahead two minutes later as Achraf Hakimi, provider of the first, scored his side’s second.
10 minutes after the break, the Moroccan bagged his second and PSG’s third. Senny Mayulu added their fourth on the hour mark. No prizes for guessing who grabbed the assist. And Hakimi completed the hat-trick in the 69th minute prior to his withdrawal with a little under 20 minutes to go. PSG eased to a 5-1 victory in Le Havre. Hakimi was directly involved in all five.
Hakimi excelled down the right
It’s quite the feat from a player who only managed four direct goal involvements in the entirety of the 2025/26 Ligue 1 season. Yet on Friday night, he absolutely blitzed Le Havre down the PSG right. The three goals came from six shots. The two assists from three chances created. Hakimi managed one completed take on, one tackle and one interception.
As starting right winger Ferran Torres sought to drive towards goal to test Arnaud Bodart between the sticks for Le Havre. It freed up the right flank for Hakimi to maximise his attacking capability. This meant that the bulk of PSG’s attacks came down the right (38%). And for a PSG side that managed 70.7% possession, Hakimi was granted the license to essentially act as an auxiliary right winger.
PSG utilised the right flank against Le Havre
The above graphic shows PSG’s average position map in Friday’s 5-1 win at Le Havre. Hakimi was stationed next to Torres, creating a lopsided 3-3-4 setup. Warren Zaire-Emery, Maghnes Akliouche and Dro Fernandez’s inclination to pull to the left in the middle of the park dragged markers away from the areas that Hakimi would occupy.
Importance of PSG's midfield
The freedom granted to Hakimi meant Le Havre never really had a chance to try and exploit his desire to spring forward. On the contrary, they didn’t see nearly enough of the ball to try and capitalise upon the space he vacated. The starting central midfield trio of Zaire-Emery, Akliouche and Fernandez managed 66, 68 and 67 passes each, respectively. It was sixth, fourth and fifth of all players to feature in Le Havre.
By comparison, Ayumu Seko was the home side’s top passer, managing 38. Goalkeeper Bodart ranked joint-second with 28. PSG were happy for the defenders to retain the ball. It was as soon as they pushed forward that they limited the Le Havre offensive.
This is noticeable in that both Le Havre and PSG won possession in the attacking third four times apiece on Friday night. Despite enjoying the lionshare of possession, it was the defending champions that won the ball more times in the midfield third, 19 times to Le Havre’s 13. It was a metric topped by Akliouche and Zaire-Emery (both 3).
PSG let Le Havre settle into the game in the defence, but once they began to encroach upon the visitors’ half, they really jumped into action.
As such, Hakimi wasn’t really tasked with defending. He’s not a defensive right-back, so to speak, and his role for PSG is to help stretch the play when they push forward. Just 25% of PSG’s attacks come through the middle, one of the lower proportions in France’s top tier. By comparison, 39% comes down the right, one of the higher in Ligue 1. The Morocco international is a key man in that regard.
And Friday’s win in Le Havre served to reinforce his importance to this PSG powerhouse. It was the perfect confidence boost to prepare for Tuesday’s trip to sunny Spain.
