Paris cruise to victory in Aix

News

The context:
On Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball continued their string of road trips (fourth consecutive away game in all competitions), in Lidl StarLigue round 15 action. Leading the division with 14 wins from as many games, the capital club travelled to sixth-placed Aix, a side that have posed top-of-the-table sides plenty of problems this season.

The match:
After a few minutes of observation, Les Rouge et Bleu took control of proceedings as Rodrigo Corrales produced a stunning double save from a penalty throw (7': 3-3). While the Parisian 'keeper was impressive at the back (10 ' : 3-5), Nikola Karabatic ran riot at the other end of the court. After scoring a kung-fu goal earlier in the game, he then conjured a no-look pass for Kamil Syprzak to convert emphatically and put the visitors five goal to the good (15': 4-9). But this wasn't even top gear! Solid in every sector, Raul Gonzalez's men pressed the accelerator again and scored from several counter-attacks (23': 7-13). At half-time, after a final goal from Kim Ekdahl du Rietz, Paris had a seven-point lead (30': 11-18).

The halftime break did nothing to dampen our players' enthusiasm, and they increased their lead a little bit more after a few saves from Rodrigo (36': 12-22) and a nice lob from Gudjon Sigurdsson (41': 16-26). Paris were in total control, headed for another victory, and there was little doubt as to the outcome as the last ten minutes of the match ticked over. (50': 21-33). Although our defence bent - without breaking - faced with the youthful exuberance of the Aix line-up, our attackers continued to put on a show. Gudjonstruck a superb spin-shot (55': 24-35), while Niko followed up with a kung-fu chabala (58': 26-37). Thus our team wrapped up a stylish win away to Aix-en-Provence (28-38).

The Parisian of the match: Rodrigo Corrales
Unbelievable! That's how we can sum up Rodrigo Corrales' performance. The Spanish international was one of the driving forces behind his team's success. With 18 saves, he broke his previous record for a single Lidl Star League match by a single goal. It was a magnificent performance that helped his team-mates to widen the gap. He also made his 400th league save!

The word: Fifteen
The Paris Saint-Germain Handball Club have won their 15th match in 15 Lidl StarLigue matches (18 from 18 if you count the last three of the 2018-2019 campaign)! Paris therefore sit alone at the apex of our league with 30 points, six more than second-placed Nantes.

Coming up:
A fifth and final away game awaits Les Rouge et Bleu on Sunday afternoon. Last but not least! Paris will travel to Hungary to take on Szeged, one of the favourites to take out the Velux EHF Champions League this year. This fixture, to be played in Round 12, will undoubtedly be decisive in the race for second place in Group A (Paris are in front thanks to a better goal difference than their direct rivals).

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)