Paris Saint-Germain midfielder João Neves joined an illustrious club on Saturday after producing an astounding hat-trick in a 6–3 victory over Toulouse in Ligue 1.
After 1–0 wins over Nantes and Angers to start their title defence, PSG produced an attacking performance more fitting of their unbelievable talent in their nine-goal thriller with Toulouse as they maintained a perfect start to the campaign.
Bradley Barcola scored PSG’s second of the evening and Ousmane Dembélé bagged twice from the penalty spot in a convincing victory, but it was Neves who stole the show with a staggering display.
The Portuguese produced not one but two overhead kicks in the opening 14 minutes of the match as PSG raced into a three-goal lead, twice hooking the ball beyond Guillaume Restes with his back to goal. He completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute as he rattled home a screamer from 25 yards into the top corner.
An exceptional trio of efforts unsurprisingly scooped him the Player of the Match award, and an even greater honour was bestowed upon him after the match as he was handed a perfect 10 rating from French news outlet L’Equipe.
João Neves Joins Lionel Messi and Co. in Elite Club
L’Equipe are famously harsh with their player ratings and rarely dish out perfect marks. In fact, by securing a 10 score, Neves is only the 18th different recipient of the accolade in the publication’s history.
It’s the 20th time the feat has been achieved and Neves joins some of the greatest footballers of all time following his performance at Toulouse.
Ex-PSG forward and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is one of only two players to have claimed a perfect mark on two occasions, although both of those displays came during his Barcelona days. Outings against Arsenal in 2010 and Bayer Leverkusen in 2012 were rewarded with a ten grade.
Erling Haaland is the only other player to have multiple tens, managing the score against RB Leipzig in 2023 as he netted five times and also in the Manchester derby in 2022 following a hat-trick in a 6–3 victory.
Neves’s clubmate Désiré Doué managed a ten in last season’s Champions League final as he etched his name into the history books against Inter, while Neymar also managed the achievement back in 2018 for PSG against Dijon.
Kylian Mbappé and Robert Lewandowski are among the other elite names to have the honour, while Franck Sauzée and Bruno Martini—the first players to manage a ten—are the only duo to achieve the score in the same game as they starred in France U21s’ victory over Greece U21s in 1988.
All Players Who Have Earned Perfect 10s From L’Equipe
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as PSG Wonderkid Joins Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland With Rare Feat.
