João Neves stole the spotlight with a stunning hat trick as Paris Saint-Germain overpowered Toulouse 6-3 in a breathless Ligue 1 encounter.
The 20-year-old Portuguese midfielder delivered two spectacular bicycle kicks within the opening 14 minutes, sandwiching Bradley Barcola’s composed strike to fire PSG into an electrifying early 3-0 lead.
Ousmane Dembélé converted penalties on either side of half-time, while Lucas Chevalier ensured the Parisians held firm by saving not one, but two first-half spot-kicks after Toulouse were twice handed the chance to pull closer.
Charlie Cresswell, Yann Gboho, and Alexis Vossah all found the net for the hosts, but Neves’ late rocket into the top corner completed his treble and snuffed out any hopes of a comeback.
The fireworks began in the seventh minute when Vitinha’s free kick eventually ricocheted kindly to Dembélé, who cushioned the ball into Neves’ path.
The youngster launched himself acrobatically, smashing a sublime overhead effort beyond Guillaume Restes.
Just two minutes later, Fabián Ruiz slipped Barcola through on goal, and the winger coolly rolled his finish into the far corner.
Toulouse barely had time to regroup before Neves dazzled again, controlling Achraf Hakimi’s deflected cross with his chest before executing another outrageous bicycle kick, this time into the opposite top corner.
When Cristian Cásseres Jr. fouled Barcola clumsily, PSG punished him immediately, with Dembélé converting from 12 yards despite Restes diving the right way.
Toulouse did pull one back before the interval through Cresswell, who reacted quickest after Chevalier spilled Mario Sauer’s strike, with VAR confirming the goal.
The hosts were then handed a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when Frank Magri’s penalty was saved by Chevalier, only for the kick to be retaken.
Cásseres stepped up next but met the same fate, as the PSG goalkeeper produced another fine stop.
After the restart, PSG extended their cushion when Barcola was brought down inside the area, leaving Dembélé to calmly bury his second penalty of the night.
Neves wasn’t done yet. In the 78th minute, a sloppy Toulouse pass fell perfectly into his stride, and he unleashed a thunderous finish into the top-right corner to complete his memorable hat trick.
Though Gboho and Vossah added late goals to give the scoreline a hint of respectability, PSG’s brilliance and Neves’ artistry, had already settled the contest long before the final whistle.
