Paris dominate Zagreb

News

The context:
Winner of the Trophée des Champions Trophy and with consecutive Lidl StarLigue wins in the first two league outings of the season, Paris Saint-Germain Handball headed into European competition with full confidence. On Saturday evening, Les Rouge et Bleu headed to Croatia to face Zagreb - familiar foes from last season.

The summary:
Les Rouge et Bleu got off to a great start. Offensively, Sander Sagosen was the first to make a name for himself by opening the score, while on the ensuing attack, Rodrigo Corrales saved a penalty (2': 0-1). The hard-working Spanish keeper and his team-mates did an excellent job of defending and muzzling the Croatian attacking line (10': 2-6). At the other end of the court, the Parisian armada, led by an excellent Kim Ekdahl du Rietz (seven goals), scored with almost all their attacks in the first quarter of an hour (17': 7-10). Gradually, the locals lifted their heads and the gap between the teams narrowed (21': 9-13). Kim and Henrik Toft Hansen, who was played in by a magnificent pass from Nikola Karabatic (25': 12-16), maintained the distance and Paris returned to the dressing room with a four-point lead (15-19).

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Paris est devant au repos face à Zagreb après une belle première période ! #ZAGPSG

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After the restart, Zagreb continued to mix it with our team (36': 19-23). A few moments later, Vincent Gérard saved a penalty from the home team, and it proved a turning point in the match (40': 22-26). At that moment, Luka Karabatic and his team-mates exploited the slightest flaw to widen the gap, with Kim and Nedim Remili's pouncing on untended goals to push Paris further ahead (44': 22-28). With the end of the match fast approaching, Paris kept control of the game (51': 26-32). Benoît Kounkoud came on to play in the second half and was everywhere for Paris as they turned on the attacking flair in the final minutes (57': 28-36). Paris Saint-Germain Handball thus won out comfortably in Zagreb, getting their European campaign off to the perfect start (29-37).

The Parisian of the match: Kim Ekdahl du Rietz
Kim Ekdahl du Rietz was very comfortable in his attacking role and scored seven goals from ten attempts (70%) to finish as the game's top scorer. The Swedish international found the top corner several times with some sharp shooting, but has showed finesse in getting past his man. Like his team, Kim is off to an ideal start in this Champions League campaign. Also of note was an excellent performance from Sander Sagosen (6 from 6).

The word: Applied
For 60 minutes, Les Rouge et Bleu maintained focus and stuck to the gameplan. After racing off to an early lead, they managed to stay in front the whole time before shifting up another gear in the last 20 minutes. Even when the Croats were close to levelling the scores, Paris Saint-Germain had the confidence to stay calm and maintain the upper hand.

Coming up:
After this season debut on the European stage, Paris return league duties on Wednesday evening, travelling to Chartres for their Lidl StarLigue Round 3 clash.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)