A well-controlled derby in Créteil

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Paris Saint-Germain Handball pulled off a fine victory in Créteil on Friday evening (28-41). Here's a look back at the win!

On Friday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball played their last away match of the season in Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 29. The stakes in the derby against Créteil were simple on paper, but less so out on the court. A win was needed for Paris to regain top spot (provisionally snatched the day before by Nantes) against a side who had the opportunity to take a major step towards securing their top-flight survival.

With Jannick Green making a number of saves and the rest of the team attacking well, the capital club quickly broke the deadlock (4': 0-3). Elohim Prandi was one of the main scorers, and his inspired strike put his side ahead (9': 4-9). The French international was in dazzling form and succeeded in everything he set out to do (13': 5-12). His power and technique were more than enough to get Les Rouge et Bleu off to a flying start (16': 7-14).

Despite the home side's pushing back hard, the Parisians kept a very healthy lead (19': 11-16); although Créteil had solved their offensive problems, their defence was still under threat from a formidable Parisian attack (23': 11-18). To try and stop them, USC turned up the aggression, but conceded several penalties in the process, all of which were converted by Kamil Syprzak (27': 14-20). At the break, after a very serious first half, Paris had a deservedly healthy lead (30': 15-22).

The second half got off to a similar start, with Les Rouge et Bleu pulling further clear (34': 17-26). Elo' struck (again) to put his side ten goals to the good (36': 17-27), but even with this huge lead, our players kept up the pressure and continued to extend their advantage (41': 20-31). Once again, our opponents were pushed to the limit in front of their own six-metre area and conceded several more penalties (46': 22-34).

The final ten minutes were fast approaching and the Parisians were in a very favourable position (49': 22-36) and, in the dying moments, the capital club continued to show their ability to hold on to a substantial lead (53': 25-38). Moments later, Paris Saint-Germain Handball made their victory official (28-41). They are now back in the lead and just one point away from the title. They will have to go in search of it against Aix next Friday at the Accor Arena, in the final round of the league season.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, LUC STEINS AND KAMIL SYPRZAK :

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)