Paris celebrate title in style

News

The context:

On Wednesday night, in Lidl Starligue Round 24 action as Nîmes came calling at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris Saint-Germain Handball had a first chance to celebrate their title win with their fans. While the lead-up to the match was all about the festivities, the capital club had to be all business out on the court against the only side to have taken a league point from them all season long (28-28), who were looking to clinch third.

The match:

As expected with two of the league's five best attacks facing off, there were plenty of early goals (4’: 4-2). Paris lived up to their status as the league's top scorers (746 goals before throw-off) and found the back of the net more often, thanks notably to an inspired Uwe Gensheimer (10’: 9-5). In addition to this clinical display in front of the Nîmes goal, Rodrigo Corrales - aided by compatriot Viran Morros - shut up shop and won plenty of duels with the Nîmes attack as Paris began to run away with it (17’: 15-8). Even when Paris were buffeted by the power of Elohim Prandi (21’: 15-11) and the saves of Téodore Paul (26’: 17-14), they didn't flinch and went into the break four goals to the good (30’: 19-15).

Raul Gonzalez's men came out swinging in the second half and began to widen the gap. And, much to their fans' delight (3,126 spectators, the club's record for league matches this season), they did so in style, with Nikola Karabatic notably firing home with a kung fu (36’: 24-18). A few moments later, from a long Thierry Omeyer pass, Uwe pulled off a near-carbon copy to put the home side nine goals in front (41’: 30-21) before Luka Karabatic made it ten with the next attack, converting his brother's move in to a goal (42’: 31-21). Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, Nîmes were having a much harder time beating Thierry Omeyer, who drew ovations from the crowd with every save (50’: 36-26). In the final moments, the result seemed beyond doubt (54’: 38-26), but Paris refused to let up and finished with 40+ goal total for just the second time this season (41-29).

The Parisian in the match: Nikola Karabatic

Nikola Karabatic turned in a superb perofrmance against Nîmes. As is often the case, his defensive work helped Les Rouge et Bleu stay tight at the back, but his work going forward also led to a lot of goals! Indeed, our playmaker fired 5 from 6 in addition to four assists!

The word: Serious

Already assured of the title before this match, Paris Saint-Germain Handball were out to prove that their right to the French throne was beyond doubt. Throughout the match, they dominated one of the league's best teams - in style - showing how comfortable the six-time league winners are with the title of Champions of France.

Coming up:

On Wednesday, the capital club will travel to neighbours Pontault-Combault for their Lidl Starligue Round 25 clash. The Paris-region side, bottom of the table, are already assured of relegation to the Proligue after losing to Istres last Wednesday (28-27).

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)