PSG powers through as Kurzawa nudges Neymar out of limelight
PARIS — Layvin Kurzawa enjoyed stealing the headlines from Neymar as he walked away with the match ball after scoring a secondhalf hat-trick in Paris SaintGermain’s 5-0 Champions League demolition of Anderlecht on Tuesday.
Kurzawa, a leftback, netted three times in the space of 26 minutes after the break at Parc des Princes as PSG ran away with the game following first-half strikes from Marco Verratti and Neymar.
A fourth victory in as many games in the competition, coupled with Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win at Celtic, allowed the big-spending French giant to secure qualification from Group B with two matches still to play.
“This hat-trick gives me a huge amount of pleasure. It’s the first hat-trick of my professional career. We’re all enjoying ourselves on the pitch and we’re giving our supporters lots of joy as well,” said Kurzawa.
The 25-year-old France international had scored just once this season coming into the match and had never found the net in the Champions League proper.
The former Monaco player is just the second PSG player to score a hat-trick in the competition, following Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who netted four times in a game against Anderlecht in 2013.
“Everyone can be happy tonight — we’ve won 5-0 and played really well in front of our fans. We need to continue like this,” Kurzawa told beIN Sports.
“The hat-trick is thanks to my teammates. I am delighted and the goals will give me confidence.”
PSG fans were also treated to a rare goal from Italy midfielder Verratti, and a not-sorare effort from Neymar.
The world’s most expensive player scored in stunning fashion just before halftime and now has 11 goals in 12 games since arriving from Barcelona.
PSG has scored 17 goals and conceded none in the competition so far and is through to the knockout rounds for the sixth season running as it aims to erase the memory of its humiliating last-16 loss to Barca last season.
It is just three points clear of Bayern so is yet to secure first place, with a home game against Celtic and a trip to Munich still to come.
“We are happy. The team kept going for 90 minutes and the supporters also enjoyed themselves, but we know we still have a long way to go,” said PSG coach Unai Emery.
“Our objective in this group is to finish first and we still have work to do against Celtic here and Bayern to get there.”
In stark contrast to PSG, Anderlecht has lost all four group games and has failed to score a goal, with this defeat following a 4-0 loss at home to the French side two weeks ago.
‘Simply the best’
The Belgian club will go no further in the Champions League and will need an enormous turnaround just to pass Celtic for third place and the Europa League spot.
“If the final were tomorrow I think they would win it,” Anderlecht boss Hein Vanhaezebrouck said of PSG.
“Right now they are quite simply the best team in Europe.”