Les Rouge et Bleu roll on in Saran

Comptes-rendus

Paris Saint-Germain Handball continued their unbeaten run in the league with a 29-37 win away to Saran on Saturday. Here's a look back at the Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 17 encounter.

After travelling to Northern Macedonia to take on HC Eurofarm Pelister on the continental stage (25-31) on Wednesday, the capital club concluded their week with a second trip, this time to Orléans to take on Saran. Raul Gonzalez's men got the better of Chartres as the Liqui Moly StarLigue resumed, maintaining their good form from the first half of the season. Les Rouge et Bleus' objective against the Septors remained the same: to continue their unbeaten run in the league.

Shortly before throw-off, a tribute was paid to our three France internationals, who all won gold at EHF Euro 2024 (Luka Karabatic, Nikola Karabatic and Elohim Prandi), who presented their hard-won trophy to the 9,000 spectators who had packed Orléans' CO'Met Arena. Spurred on by a boisterous crowd, the home side put the Parisians in trouble early on (5': 3-0). Les Rouge et Bleu soon found their feet, however, with Elohim and Kamil getting htings level before the quarter-hour mark (14': 7-7).

As the minutes ticked by, Raul Gonzalez's men began to look more clinical in front of goal and duly made Paris's first break of the game (18': 9-11). However, Saran weren't to be outdone. Coming out of a time-out, the Septors took advantage of a numerical superiority to regain control of the match (23': 14-13). The lead was short-lived, however, as Les Rouge et Bleu reversed the trend through the inevitable Kamil Syprzak, who had already scored his sixth goal of the evening (29': 15-16). Thanks to a perfectly controlled end to the first period, Les Rouge et Bleu went into the locker room with a three-point lead (30': 15-18).

At the start of the second half, Paris took advantage of a double numerical superiority to extend their lead (34': 17-21). Effective in front of goal, Les Rouge et Bleu were also more solid defensively, with Jannick Green doing his utmost to keep out two penalties. Just as the capital club were taking off, Saran decided to stop the game at the start of the last quarter of an hour (45': 23-28). However, Paris powered on and extended their lead (48': 25-31).

Kamil continued his scoring spree at the other end, bagging his 13th goal of the evening, to set a new personal best in a league match for Paris (52': 27-33). In total control in the second half, the capital club claimed another richly deserved victory over the Septors and continued their unblemished run in the Liqui Moly StarLigue (60': 29-37). Raul Gonzalez's men are now full of confidence ahead of a week that promises to be decisive for the rest of the season. Les Rouge et Bleu face Kielce at Coubertin on EHF Champions League Matchday 12 on Thursday, before travelling to face nearest league rivals Montpellier.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, JANNICK GREEN AND KENT ROBIN TONNESEN:

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)