Leaders Paris shock and awe

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League leaders Paris) and second-placed Limoges went at each other with a ferocious rhythm in their Lidl StarLigue Round 7 clash, but speed is often confused with haste and the technical errors piled up early, leading to a counter-intuitively slow start (7': 3-1). The goalkeepers (Vincent Gérard for Paris, Denis Serdarevic for Limoges) played a key role in keeping the scores down but, little by little, Raul Gonzalez's men got their collective eye in. Remaining solid in defence thanks thanks to their 5-1formation, Les Rouge et Bleu carved out a lead and went even further ahead when Nedim Remili scored his 400th goal for the capital club.

Now well in front (17': 10-3), the Parisians took control of the match. Strong at the back, they intercepted several balls and scored on the subsequent counter-attacks (22': 13-5). They went ten goals clear a few minutes before the break, when Elohim Prandi scored a direct hit with yet another missile (24': 16-6). The French international was equally at ease powering home or finishing with a magnificent kung-fu, set up by Dainis Kristopans.

At the break, Paris were still comfortably ahead.

The second half picked up where the first had left off, with a goal from Elohim and a save from Vincent (32': 22-8). The two men were utterly on fire and were the driving forces behind their side's enormous lead. On occasion they even combined their talents, Vincent making a superb save before launching Elohim to score on the counter that followed. Elohim was in simply dazzling form and put his side 18 goals clear (13 from 14 in total, his personal best).

Against their nearest league rivals, Les Rouge et Bleu did a perfect job of making the match easier for themselves; at the beginning of the last quarter of an hour, there was no doubt as to the result (45': 31-13). Even less so a few moments later, when the unstoppable Elohim tried his luck from midfield and found the back of an empty net, giving Paris a 20-goal lead (49': 34-14). Despite this domination - and the absence of fans at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin - our players refused to let up, Spanish right-winger Ferran Solé hitting a perfect chabala from the seven-metre line before striking again with a nice lob (56': 40-19).

Raul took advantage of this massive lead to bring in the young Andry Goujon Bellevue, who scored his first goal in the French handball elite - from the penalty line (59': 42-20). Paris Saint-Germain Handball remained utterly focused right to the final buzzer and ran out comprehensive winners! Heading into the international break, Paris Saint-Germain Handball are in sole control of the Lidl Starligue table, with six victories in as many matches!

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)