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Paris Saint-Germain Handball lost away to Kielce (30-29) on EHF Champions League Matchday 3. Here's a look back at the game.

 

On Wednesday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball were in for a shock! Les Rouge et Bleu were taking part in Matchday 3 of the EHF Champions League, and had the tough task of facing Kielce at the Hala Legionow. It was never going to be an easy trip, even though the Poles had already dropped points on home turf at the start of their European campaign, after losing to Aalborg (before making up for it last week in Pelister). For their part, the capital club won their first two games (at Szeged and against Zagreb).

Raul Gonzalez's men started the game well. Although their defensive efforts went unrewarded, they never wavered offensively and took advantage of every early engagement to take the lead (4': 2-3). But, spurred on by their fans, the home side responded well. Firstly, by denying several of our attacks, but also by showing their cutting edge against Andreas Palicka (10': 7-5). The battle was on and the two sides went back and forth (13': 9-8). However, Kielce continued to show more composure and moved to +3 at the end of the first quarter (16': 11-8).

The capital club's attacking options were also becoming fewer and fewer, and the shots were sometimes too forced. The Parisians' cutting edge proved somewhat elusive but Elohim Prandi managed to find the Polish net (21': 14-10). Little by little, thanks to several saves from Jannick Green and a more solid defence, the Parisians got back on track. But at the other end of the court, our shooting struggles persisted and our players were still behind on the scoreboard (26': 15-13). It wasn't until the final moments of the first half that the scores were level again, and at the break, after a final goal from Dominik Mathé, Paris were back in the game (30': 16-15).

Despite bagging an equaliser just after the second half had begun, the capital club failed to push on and had to chase the game again (34': 18-15). The Parisians had no shortage of fighting spirit, and Nikola Karabatic was even more impressive than usual, scoring twice in two attacks to keep his side in the game (39': 20-18), but every mistake cost them dearly. Our team managed to get back into the game a few times, but soon found themselves trailing by several points (42': 23-18). They were not in a favourable position, but with a strong end to the game, there was still every reason to hope (46': 23-21).

Elohim stepped up a gear and brought his team back to within a point (47': 23-22). As expected, the game would come down to the final minutes (54': 26-25). Unfortunately, Kielce managed those minutes better; the Poles regained the lead at a crucial moment (57': 29-26). Despite a fine performance, Paris Saint-Germain Handball lost by one point (30-29) and conceded their first defeat of the season in all competitions. They will have to bounce back in the Liqui Moly StarLigue in Dunkerque on Sunday.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, LUKA KARABATIC AND KAMIL SYPRZAK:

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)