Les Rouge et Bleu beat Nîmes' trap

Comptes-rendus

Paris Saint-Germain Handball beat Nîmes 36-33 at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Saturday evening. We take a look back at Les Rouge et Bleu's victory on the first day of the Liqui Moly StarLigue.

A few days after qualifying for the Coupe de France Round of 16 with a 28-33 win at Pau-Billère, Les Rouge et Bleu kicked off their Liqui Moly StarLigue campaign against Nîmes at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Saturday. Nîmes are a side that always look to rise to the occasion against the league's top teams, while Raul Gonzalez's men were putting their title on the line once again and were keen to celebrate their return to Coubertin.

Right from throw-off, Les Rouge et Bleu were urged on by a crowd delighted to be seeing their side in action once again. Yahia Omar's first goal at Coubertin gave Paris an early lead (4': 2-0). Our players got off to a good start, but Nîmes stepped up a gear and took advantage every time Paris lost possession, making up some ground (9': 4-3). The capital club reacted immediately, stepping up their intensity in turn to extend their lead again as the first quarter drew to a close (13': 8-5).

As the minutes ticked by, the Parisians began to find their feet and Mathieu Grébille finished off a sumptuous kung fu move (16': 9-7). Even at a numerical disadvantage, Paris exploited every space left by the Nîmes rearguard, with Kamil Syprzak racking up four first-half goals (22': 14-10). Wallem Peleka, a formidable counter-attacker, scored twice with just a few minutes remaining in a breathless end to the first half (27': 16-14). After a final time-out of no consequence, Paris went into the locker room with a four-goal lead (30': 18-14).

In the second half, the Parisians were just as ruthless and maintained their lead (36': 23-19). With Nîmes still in touch with the capital club and benefiting from a temporary numerical superiority, Andreas Palicka made sure to win all his one-on-ones and forced Nîmes to call a time-out (42': 26-22). Elohim Prandi followed up with a brace to give his side some breathing space and take his tally to eight goals for the evening (46': 29-23).

Nîmes redoubled their intensity as the clock ticked down inexorably towards the end of the game (52': 31-29). Down a man, Paris made the difference from the penalty line and regained a three-goal lead (57': 34-31). In defence, Andreas had a firm hand to deflect Nîmes' shots on goal and seal the result of a match that had lived up to all its promises. After a late surge, Paris showed their authority to stay on top and overcome a valiant Nîmes side (60': 36-33). Les Rouge et Bleu return to Coubertin on Wednesday for the first matchday of the EHF Champions League, against Pelister.

(E. Renard/Team Pics/PSG)