First round passed

Comptes-rendus

At the end of an excellent match, Paris Saint-Germain Handball came out on top against Pau-Billère 28-33 to book their place in the Coupe de France round of 16. Here's a look back at Les Rouge et Bleus' victory.

Big events call for big resources. For this gala match against the capital club, Pau-Billère moved from the friendly confines of the Sporting d'Este arena to the flamboyant Palais des Sports de Pau, adding a little more pressure for Raul Gonzalez's visiting side. It was all about avoiding the banana skin against a side who were looking to make history against one of the giants of the game.

Despite the home crowd's fervour, Les Rouge et Bleu got off to a very strong start. Led by Kamil Syprzak, who has evidently lost none of the passion that drove him last season, Paris quickly broke the deadlock (5': 1-3). Although Pau fought hard to get back into the game, our players stepped up a gear, forcing their opponents to call a first time-out (10': 3-7). However, the Parisian team continued to shine in a dazzling start to the match, with Kamil and Elohim scoring four and five goals respectively (16': 5-12).

Elo‘, recently honoured as last season's Liqui Moly StarLigue MVP, seemed unstoppable in the opening period, scoring a hat-trick to put the capital club ahead just before the break (24’: 10-17). Then it was the turn of the neo-parisien Yahia Omar to join the party (26' : 12-19). At the end of a first half rich in goals, Paris returned to the dressing room with a six-goal lead (30': 15-21).

After the break, the capital club continued their attacking feast, thanks in particular to Kamil's sixth goal of the evening (34': 17-23). The Rouge et Bleu defence also remained on guard, with Andreas Palicka always present when called upon to deal with Pau's counter-attacks. With Paris maintaining a comfortable lead, Raul Gonzalez took the opportunity to give the whole squad some game time, and it was David Balaguer and Kent Robin Tonnesen who then took their turns to find the back of the net (42': 19-26).

But the home side were far from giving up the fight and kept on attacking Andreas' goal. However, our Swedish ‘keeper managed to repel their attempts with an iron hand, even from the penalty line (49’: 24-30). With five minutes to go, the Palois‘ hopes were rekindled, but were short-lived as Luka Karabatic also scored to restore Paris’ seven-point lead (27': 25-32). Raul Gonzalez's men thus booked their place in the Coupe de France round of 16 thanks to a well-controlled win over a courageous Pau-Billère side (28-33). Now it's time for a return to the Liqui Moly StarLigue, with Nîmes set to visit the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Saturday.

REACTIONS FROM Luc Steins, Kamil Syprzak et Wallem Peleka :

(Credits: L. Valroff/PSG)