A tough half-century

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The match:
Despite a difficult start to the season, the visitors are always a tough opponent for Paris. Led by former Parisian Fahrudin Melic they proved it again early on Thursday (5’ : 1-2). It took all the talent of Kim Ekdahl du Rietz to lead the fight back with a quadruple (9’ : 4-2). The other star for Les Rouge et Bleu was Dylan Nahi, with the left-winger beating his future teammate Yann Genty (16’ : 11-7). Chambéry rallied, but a Luc Abalo chabala, and a superb Rodrigo Corrales save calmed their ambition (20’ : 13-9). A kung-fu on the buzzer from Benoît Kounkoud saw Paris leading at the break (30’ : 19-15).

The second began in similar fashion to the first with the two sides feeling each other out. Dylan opened the scoring in the third minute and opened up a five-goal lead (33’ : 20-15). But Raul Gonzalez's side were struggling to score and left themselves open to a comeback (40’ : 23-20). THe visitors upped the ante in defence (45’ : 25-22). And when Paris got the better of the defence, Chambéry goalie Julien Meyer was there to frustrate the home side (49’ : 26-24). It was game on in the final minutes and the atmosphere was electric (52’ : 27-26), only for Kamil Syprzak and Vincent Gérard to give a bit of breathing space to the hosts (53’ : 28-26). In the end, it was Dylan that offered Paris Saint-Germain Handball the win (32-29).

A man in the match: Kim Ekdahl du Rietz
THe MVP could have gone to excellent left-winger Dylan Nahi who netted six out of seven. But Kim Ekdahl du Rietz was, once again, simply superb. He top scored with eight goals, scoring with 86% of his shots. The Swede's form in front of goal was crucial to Les Rouge et Bleu's victory.

The word: Record
This win sees the side from the capital further cement its place atop the Lidl StarLigue standings with six wins from as many matches. However, our team also equalled the French record set by Montpellier between 202 and 2003 of 50 consecutive home matches in all competitions without defeat. If Paris avoids defeat on Sunday it will be the sole record holder with 51!

 

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)