Paris clinch thriller for winning start

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On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball kicked off their Lidl StarLigue season, almost seven months after the last campaign ended. At the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, they played host to Pays d'Aix Handball, led by former Parisians, Samuel Honrubia and William Accambray.

The match began with a tribute to Mikkel Hansen who, with 334 matches in all competitions for Les Rouge et Bleu, became the club's all-time appearances leader. Thus, just before throw-off, the Danish international received a richly deserved reward.

Out on the court, the debates were rather balanced. Although Mikky was the first to strike (1': 1-0), the visitors answered perfectly through Kristan Kristjansson and Matthieu Ong (10': 4-4). Paris led the dance but couldn't break away, with Aix 'keeper Wesley Pardin proving a problem for the Parisian attack.

After 15 minutes of play, Paris began to take the ascendancy. To beat Pardin's vigilance, who better than his former Toulouse teammate, Ferran Solé? The Spanish right-winger prevailed one-on-one to get his team back in the lead (15': 8-7). From one left-handed player to the other, efficiency proved contagious and Nedim Remili was inspired by his new team-mate to score from nine metres out (18': 10-7).

But once again, Aix refused to lie down, levelling matters and forcing Raul Gonzalez to call his first time-out (22': 11-11). The adjustments made proved effective and the Parisians started moving in the right direction once again (24': 13-11). At the break, our team were two goals ahead, Elohim Prandi sending a missile in to the back of the net and Dainis Kristopans producing a crisp finish bon the buzzer.

After the break, both sides picked up where they had left off in the first half (34': 18-17). The visitors were never far off the pace and even went close to equalising, but Karl Konan couldn't beat Yann Genty from close range (37': 19-18). This fight-back put a fire un the Parisians, however, with Mikkel and then Mathieu Grébille stepping up to give Paris a bit more breathing room.

Defensively, faced with the problems posed by Accambray and co., Paris had to adapt, opting for a move to a 5-1 formation with Benoît Kounkoud as interceptor. The move paid dividends and Les Rouge et Bleu began to win more possession, but continued to struggle somewhat in terms of finishing. This allowed the side from Provence to come get back to level terms (46': 24-24) and, in order to get back in the lead, the Parisians looked to Nikola Karabatic, who struck a fine goal before setting up Kamil Syprzak to do the same (48': 26-25).

The match was still neck-and-neck as the final minutes approached (50': 27-27). Nikola Karabatic, thanks to a spectacular defensive return, and Benoît Kounkoud, with a nice chabala, gave Coubertin something to cheer about (51': 28-27). The Parisians found themselves in a situation fairly similar to that against Flensburg on Wednesday (28-29), but there was no question of letting the same thing happen again! In the final moments, just after Vincent Gérard pushed back a penalty attempt, Mikkel Hansen scored a quick-fire three goals to seal the Parisian victory!

For their opening match of the league season, Paris Saint-Germain Handball tasted victory - a good omen for Les Rouge et Bleu, who will travel to Belarus on Wednesday evening to challenge Meshkov Brest EHF Champions League Matchday 3 clash.

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)