Carrying Vitinha’s hat-trick, PSG extinguished Tottenham and moved forward

The Portuguese scored his first career hat-trick on Wednesday and guided his team to a fourth win in five days in C1.

Without Ousmane Dembélé, or Désiré Doué, so Vitinha decided to carry PSG on his shoulders to avoid a second defeat in a row in C1. Thanks to the Portuguese player’s hat-trick, as well as goals from Fabian Ruiz and Willian Pacho, PSG responded to Randal Kolo Muani’s two goals to dominate Tottenham, Wednesday 26 November (5-3), on match day 5 of the Champions League.

The first half hour, played at the wrong pace, did not bode well for a strong final score and goal-rich evening. Only two goals from Fabian Ruiz and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia managed to bring Parc des Princes out of its sluggishness. Then things came to a head in the 35th minute. With his header, Richarlison took advantage of several marking errors made by the Paris defender to open the score (35th).

Ten minutes later, Vitinha started his good work by equalizing with a powerful strike from outside the box through an assist from youngster Quentin Ndjantou (18), a surprise starter for Luis Enrique at kick-off. The Portuguese was at it again after returning from the dressing room, while Randal Kolo Muani, who had chosen his former club to open his Tottenham goal account, put Spurs back in front (50).

In a match that really got out of hand in the second half, Fabian Ruiz, who was in superb form on Wednesday night, gave Paris the lead for the first time (59, 3-2) with a curling heel shot from Joao Neves, also dominant in midfield. After Willian Pacho’s header (65), Vitinha completed the task by scoring a penalty (76) which he earned himself when he saw his shot deflected with his arm by Pedro Porro.

Randal Kolo Muani scored twice late in the game on a back pass from Vitinha, but Spurs, who conceded too easily in the second half, were unable to keep up with the Parisians. With Bradley Barcola very cautious, and Quentin Ndjantou a little lost and still too green for this level, PSG can afford to rely on its world-class midfielders. Thus, he avoided a second consecutive setback at the Parc during the Champions League regular season, which has never happened to him in history.

Vitinha, who became the sixth PSG player (and the first since Ousmane Dembélé against Stuttgart last year) to score a hat-trick in C1, provided some great service, while his side stalled a bit during the 30 minutes. The only black spot of the night: Lucas Hernandez, who caused the loss of the ball in Fabian Ruiz’s goal, was sent off for an elbow in the face of former Parisian Xavi Simons, when he came on in the 46th minute for Nuno Mendes.

With this fourth win in five matches, PSG is quietly moving towards qualifying for the remainder of the competition. After five days out of eight, Luis Enrique’s men are second with 12 points, and only ahead of perfect Arsenal. The position must be maintained because the top two places will benefit from being able to play the second leg until the semifinals.