On Wednesday night, Paris Saint-Germain Handball played host to Pontault-Combault in Lidl StarLigue Round 5 action. Les Rouge et Bleu built in strength throughout the match to add another win to their record.
A derby is a derby. Even when the competition's bottom side travels to Coubertin, nothing is decided ahead of time. Especially when the visitors cunt among their number a former Paris player, namely Ludwig Appolinaire. In fine form, the Paris Saint-Germain Handball old boy posed his former club plenty of problems early on (9’: 6-6). Fortunately, the fit-again Uwe Gensheimer stepped up with five first-half goals (15’: 9-8) helping Paris to carve out a handy lead (26’: 15-11) without quite killing the match off by the half-time break (16-13).
In the second half, Les Rouge et Bleu seemed to have learned from their mistakes in the first term and hit the ground running. In the space of a few minutes, as Adama Keita produced an exceptional spin-shot, they had streaked to a seven-point lead (36’: 22-15). Raul Gonzalez's men weren't about the rest on their laurels. From Thierry Omeyer, who pulled off a brilliant double save (42’: 27-18), to Benoît Kounkoud, whose strike put Paris Saint-Germain Handball ten goals to the good (44’: 29-19), everyone got in on the act - including youngster Edouard Kempf. Subbed on in the final moments of the match, our right-winger turned in a fine performance with several interceptions and a successful penalty (53’: 35-22). The match ended with an eight-goal margin thanks to goals from Luka Stepancic (9 from 9) and Dylan Nahi (38-25).
After a balanced first half, Paris Saint-Germain Handball pulled clear in the final 30 minutes. The result keeps the capital club in third place on the Lidl StarLigue table, a point shy of Chambéry and Nantes, whom they will face on Saturday afternoon in Velux EHF Champions League Round 4 action.
The Parisian scorers:
Luka Stepancic (9), Uwe Gensheimer (8), Benoît Kounkoud (5), Mikkel Hansen (4), Adama Keita, Nedim Remili, Dylan Nahi (3), Luka Karabatic (2), Luc Abalo (1).
The Parisian 'keeper:
Thierry Omeyer: 16 from 39 (39%)
(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)