Les Rouge et Bleu dominate Nantes, retake top spot

Comptes-rendus

On Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain Handball turned in a perfect performance to beat Nantes (34-28). This success allowed Raul Gonzalez's men to retake top spot in the league. We taek a look back at this top-of-the-table Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 19 clash.

An early final. That's how you could describe this clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes. To conclude Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 19, the capital club played host to the league leaders with a clear objective in mind: to win and reclaim top spot, which they lost to the team from the Loire region in the reverse fixture. To achieve this, they needed to turn in a massive performance, counting on the suoport of a sold-out Stade Pierre de Coubertin.

The Parisians stand firm

As expected, the match started at a frenetic pace. The two teams went blow for blow, but Jannick Green showed his quality to help Paris take the lead (4': 3-2). A man up, the capital club proved ruthless and Ferran Solé punished the visitors with a superb shot from his own half (6': 5-2).

Then it was Luc's turn to deliver a solo performance, faking out the Nantes rearguard before beating Ivan Pesic (10': 8-5). Even when it was their turn to go man down, Paris showed lucidity and solidarity to maintain their lead (14th: 10-7).

Despite an initial time-out called by Grégory Cojean, Les Rouge et Bleu did not let Nantes claw their way back - quite the contrary. Jannick made two saves in quick succession, allowing his team to extend the lead with some ruthless attacking play. Léo Plantin, who had just come on, gave Paris a five-goal lead over Nantes, the biggest of the match thus far (23': 14-9).

At the end of a perfectly controlled first period, the capital club went into the dressing room with a five-goal lead (30th: 16-11) - but it was clear that they would need to maintain the pace in a second act that promised to be another breathless affair.

To keep Nantes at bay, Raul Gonzalez looked to his leaders, who were fully assuming their responsibilities. While Luc Steins has already racked up seven assists, Kamil continued his perfect run with a fifth goal, enabling the capital club to maintain the gap (34': 18-13). Beyond the key players, the whole team was getting into the swing of things. Imperious in defence all match long, Noa Narcisse turned scorer from the left wing (39': 21-15).

However, Nantes were far from giving up and took advantage of several mistakes in Les Rouge et Bleus' defence to make up some of their deficit (43': 21-18). Seeing his team lose concentration, Raul Gonzalez decided to stop play and remobilise his men. The capital club immediately stopped the rot and hit back thanks to a splendid lob from Luc (45': 22-19).

Andreas Palicka distinguished himself as soon as he came on, adding his name to the long list of Les Rouge et Bleu scorers (47': 25-20). After the last time-out of the match had been called by Grégory Cojean, the last ten minutes promised to be unbearable in an electric Stade Pierre de Coubertin. The Nantes attacks on the Paris goal were growing more and more frequent, but the capital club proved sharp enough in attack to maintain the gap in the home stretch (54': 29-25).

Faced with the intensity and pressure inherent in this high-octane atmosphere, Nantes made several mistakes. A man up, Paris held firm and pulled away (57': 32-26). Pushed on by a Stade Pierre de Coubertin united as one, Raul Gonzalez's men claimed revenge for the reverse fixture and recalaimed top spot (60': 34-28) - while also racking up a superior head-to-head goal difference (defeat -3, victory +6).

Next up for Les Rouge et Bleu:

After this crucial victory, it's time for the first international break of 2025. The Parisians will return to competition on Friday 21 March, in a league derby against Ivry.

(Credits: E. Renard/Team Pics)