Paris avoid the trap in Dijon

News

On Friday, Paris Saint-Germain Handball beat Dijon 40-32 in the opening match of Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 9. Here's a look back at the match.

Paris Saint-Germain were back at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Friday to take on Dijon in Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 9. After the first international break of the season, Les Rouge et Bleu were keen to pick up where they had left off: by continuing their unblemished run in the league.

In the opening minutes, Dijon gave it their all and neither team managed to pull away (5': 4-4). Although the home were inspired, the capital club countered with a thunderous start from Jacob Holm (four goals) to take control of the match (7': 7-6). Les Rouge et Bleu came up against a wall at the back, however, and found themselves trailing by a narrow margin after 15 minutes (15th: 12-13). Despite their numerical superiority following the temporary suspension of Jules Lignières, Raul Gonzalez's men struggled to find a solution. The visitors, in full confidence, took advantage of the situation to make the first break of the match (21st: 14-16).

It was short-lived, however, as the Parisians responded with three unanswered goals and quickly took their lead back (23': 17-16). As the half-time interval approached, Dijon once again pulled clear (28th: 18-20), but a brace from the inevitable Kamil Syprzak allowed Les Rouge et Bleu to pull level in the dying seconds of the first half (29': 20-20). Finally, Paris went into the locker room with a narrow lead thanks to a last-gasp strike from Mathieu Grébille, who rounded out the scoring in a particularly lively first half (30': 21-20).

The Parisians came back with the same intensity as at the end of the first half and regained a two-point lead (34th: 23-21). Les Rouge et Bleu were more assertive in both attack and defence and took the scoreboard by storm (39': 28-22), forcing Dijon to take a time-out. Ferran Solé Sala scored his fifth goal of the match as the final quarter-hour approached (44': 31-25), taking his tally of league goals for Les Rouge et Bleu past the 300-mark. A real achievement for the Spanish international, who has not stopped scoring since his arrival in 2020.

Jacob continued his festival of goals in the second half, taking his tally to seven - his best performance in a Paris shirt (57th: 39-32). Ferran rounded off a fine performance for the capital club, who continued their unbeaten run in the league after a thrilling encounter (60': 40-32). Les Rouge et Bleu travel to Norway on Wednesday to take on Kolstad in the EHF Champions League. In the Liqui Moly StarLigue, they will then travel to Aix for their Round 10 clash at 17:00 on Sunday.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, SADOU NTANZI AND DOMINIK MATHÉ:

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)