A battle for Paris

Match reports

Two months after their last match at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris Saint-Germain Handball returned to their home ground on Sunday afternoon for the Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 16 visit of Dunkerque. They had the opportunity to get back on level terms with league leaders Montpellierwho had 24 hours earlier in Toulouse (34-29). It was once again with a rejuvenated squad (without the Karabatic brothers, Kamil Syprzak and Dainis Kristopans) that the Parisians faced USDK. But they could count on the return of Elohim Prandi, scorer of 14 goals in the first meeting between the clubs this season (32-38).

For their reunion with their supporters, Les Rouge et Bleu really put on a show. Offensively, they shone with several counter-attacks (4': 4-2) while, at the other end of the court, Jannick Green made a sublime save from close range (7': 4-3). In order to contain the Parisian assaults, the Northerners' aggression sometimes exceeded the rules of the game and Luc Steins, taking a knock, was forced off while Gabriel Nyembo was sent off (11': 6-6). The referee stopped the game to hand out penalties but our team had to chase the score (16': 9-12).

The capital club answered to the physical intensity imposed by the visitors. Thanks to several saves by Andreas Palicka and a striking offensive display from Dominik Mathé (for his first time at Coubertin!), the Parisians drew level (19': 13-13). Our Swedish goalkeeper completely extinguished the opponent's offensive line and his teammates took full advantage, reversing the situation and whipping the home fans into a frenzy (22': 15-13). Andreas's example quickly caught on! While Elohim Prandi struck with several trademark missiles, David Balaguer scored from his right wing (27': 18-16)! At the break, Raul Gonzalez's men led by three points.

At the beginning of the second half, Paris increases their lead a little more (36': 26-22). Defensively, Les Rouge et Bleu were lining up in a 5-1 and showing a lot of rigour. The offensive line, for their part, held their nerve and Sadou Ntanzi proved inspired from the 9m line (39': 28-24). But, little by little, Dunkerque's keeper Samir Bellahcene grew in strength and started to pose some serious problems for our attack (41': 28-26). It took several slick counter-attacks to regain the ascendancy, but soon the capital club were back in a favourable position (47': 32-27).

As the minutes ticked down, our team managed their lead perfectly (50': 35-29), prompting USDK to opt for a seven-man attack. The Parisians took advantage of this to score on quick offensives, with Andreas - comfortable in his own areas - also finding the back of the net from his own half (54': 39-31)! The end of the match was approaching and the outcome seemed clear - especially when Jannick also made a good save to deny a penalty (56': 40-33). Paris Saint-Germain Handball thus held out to win their first home game of 2023 and got back on level terms with Montpellier at the top of the Liqui Moly StarLigue (Montpellier have a +1 head-to-head goal difference advantage, that cannot change until the second match, in April).

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)