PSV Eindhoven have one foot in the next round of the Champions League qualifiers after an excellent 5-1 victory over Galatasaray.
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PSV boss Roger Schmidt handed official debuts to Joel Drommel, Andre Ramalho and Phillip Mwene, while Marco van Ginkel captained the side in midfield. Cody Gakpo was on the bench after only returning to training this week.
In the second minute, Eran Zahavi robbed Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera of the ball and fired PSV into an early lead. It should have been 2-0 almost straight away but Yorbe Vertessen fired wide from a great position.
The 23,500 fans in the stadium were enjoying their side’s dominance and it was 2-0 in the 35th minute. Noni Madueke raced into the box and crossed for Zahavi to score from close range.
Galatasaray barely threatened but they pulled a goal back before the break, through an Emre Kilinc header.
Six minutes into the second half, Zahavi brilliantly played through Mario Gotze, who fired past Muslera to make it 3-1. Schmidt then introduced Davy Propper and Gakpo as PSV looked to kill the game.
In the 84th minute, Zahavi completed his hat-trick after taking the ball around Muslera, before Gotze completed the scoring just before the end. The midfielder got lucky as the ball hit his shoulder before beating Muslera, who had an awful evening in the Galatasaray goal.
PSV take a huge lead to Galatasaray next week as they look to book their place in the next round.
Congratulations to hat-trick hero Eran Zahavi. Well played PSV.