One step from the triple!

News

The context: 

Two-time reigning holders Paris Saint-Germain Handball headed to the Antarès in Le Mans on Saturday evening looking to clinch their place in a fourth consecutive Coupe de la Ligue final, to be played the following day. To do so, they needed to prevail in this delocalised derby against Ivry - underdogs in a Final4 line-up that also included heavyweights Saint-Raphaël et Montpellier, thanks to their sitting just agri above the relegation zone in the Lidl Starligue.

The match:

From the opening seconds, Les Rouge et Bleu played in a manner befitting their status as heavy favourites. Indeed, it only took two minutes for Nedim to make the break (2’: 0-2), and romp hat point, Paris' lead continued to grow! Up front, our France internationals Nedim (9’: 1-4), Luc Abalo (11’: 2-6) and Nikola Karabatic did their part to keep Paris streaking ahead (12’: 2-7). But the lead was also growing because our defence left Ivry's front men very little space to work in. And when they did find a way past Viran Morros and Luka Karabatic, they were confronted with the obstacle of Thierry Omeyer (17’: 4-8). Our last bastion was in fine form, notably saving a penalty from Mortem Vium (25’: 5-12). Right up to the half-time buzzer, Raul Gonzalez's men kept their foot hard on the gas (30’: 7-15).

We can only underline the excellent strategy employed by the Spanish coach, who constantly rotated his line-up with a view to keeping everyone fresh should they clinch a place in Sunday's final. So, as the second half began, everyone got a chance to show their stuff (36’: 11-18). Although the Karabatic brothers, who combined well to find the back of the net (43’: 16-21), had been there in the first half, this was not the case for Rodrigo Corrales. Our Spanish 'keeper took no time to follow Titi's lead, however, promptly saving a penalty from Johan Boisedu (46’: 17-23). Meanwhile, Kim Ekdahl du Rietz pulled off a sweet move, skinning two defenders before smashing a shot in off the underside of the bar (50’: 19-24). The final outcome seemed clear in the final ten minutes, and Les Rouge et Bleu made sure - at both ends of the pitch - that nothing would change. Adama Keita found the target from the right wing (53’: 19-26), while Rodrigo saved another penalty (57’: 21-26). Paris Saint-Germain Handball controlled the final moments decisively and paunched their ticket for the final (22-27).

The Parisian in the match: Thierry Omeyer

That the capital club could take such a quick lead was due in large part to Thierry Omeyer's boarding up the Parisian goal. Well aided by his defence, our captain produced several long shut-outs in the first half - sequences that paid dividends at full time. He ended the match with eight saves from 15 opposition shots for an excellent 53% save rate.

The word: Management
With two crunch matches in the space of 24 hours (in the event of a win in the semis), it's crucial keep everyone fresh. Our Spanish coaching team of Raul Gonzalez and Jesus Gonzalez took care of this by handing out game time to all the Parisians. Of the 13 outfield players, 11 scored goals. Special mentions go to Sander Sagosen (4 from 4), Luc Abalo (3 from 3) and Luka Karabatic (1 from 1), who all fired at 100%.

Coming up:

On Sunday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball will play their fourth Coupe de la Ligue info in a row. They have won the last two, against Nantes in 2017 and Toulouse in 2018. Paris will face the Winn if Montpellier and Saint-Raphaël - the perfect opportunity to win their first trophy of the season!

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)