Paris consolidate their position

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On Saturday night, Paris Saint-Germain Handball were away to Aix for their Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 8 clash - their fourth away game in a row in all competitions. Alone atop the league standings heading into the match, the capital club had the opportunity to relegate their opponent on this night - their closest pursuers - to five points behind them. But, as is often in the case in France's top flight, the task did not look an easy one...

As there two top-ranked sides - both of whom had played in Europe in mid-week - there was no escaping a feeling-out period (4': 1-1). The defences clearly took the upper hand over the attacks and the score hardly moved in the early stages of the match (7': 2-2). Les Rouge et Bleu were the first to make the break; well led by a solid rear-guard and efficient wingers (Adama Keita and Benoît Kounkoud), they went three goals to the good (13': 4-7). By the 15-minute-mark, Raul Gonzalez's men had taken a comfortable lead (16': 4-10).

That the Parisians managed to increase the lead in this way, came down to the fact that they conceded very few goals. The home attack went through a period of eight minutes without a single goal and needed a penalty throw to put an end to the drought (18': 5-10). At the other end of the court, everything was also going well for our front line. Despite of some exploits by Aix 'keeper Kalim Zahaf, our players held their nerve in front of goal and edged further ahead (24': 7-15) to be in a dominant position when the half-time buzzer sounded.

After the break, Paris maintained the pressure and increased their lead as the minutes passed (34 ': 12-20). A few moments later, after a save by Yann Genty and a solo rush by Luc Steins, the capital club went to +10 (40': 13-23) but refused to let up. PAUC had to work for a long time to find an offensive solution, and were regularly put in check by various interceptions and saves from our guards. As the end of the game approached, the fate of the game looked beyond doubt.

Towards the end of the match, things tightened a little, but Paris remained in control (52': 21-28). Right to the end, our team stayed serious and maintained the gap (55': 21-30). Ferran Solé Sala even took advantage of the situation to score his 100th league goal for Paris (57': 23-33).

Solid for 60 minutes, Paris Saint-Germain Handball won for the eighth time in as many Liqui Moly StarLigue outings this season. With a five-point lead over Nantes and Aix, Les Rouge et Bleu are, more than ever, league leaders! There will now be an international break for a week, with our team's next appointment - the Coupe de la Ligue quarter-finals in Toulouse - on 10 November.

Reactions from Sadou Ntanzi, Raul Gonzalez and Adama Keita:

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)