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Paris fall to Le Fenix

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A few days after the visit of Wisla Plock for EHF Champions League Matchday 2, Les Rouge et Bleu were back in Liqui Moly StarLigue action on Sunday. On the agenda was a trip to Toulouse for the third league match of the season. The objective was clear for Paris: to continue their perfect start to the season. 

The Parisians suffered from the outset against Toulouse, conceding the opening goal to Fredric Pettersson in the first minute and then a penalty directly afterwards (5': 3-1). The following minutes were similar, with several saves from the Toulouse goalkeeper followed by success shots for the hosts (12': 9-4). The players from the capital were facing stiff resistance from their hosts, with a defence that let nothing through and an attack that continued to increase its lead (17': 12-6). 

Stung, the capital club put their foot down and got back to within three points thanks to consecutive goals from winger David Balaguer and a double from Luc Steins (19': 12-9). Despite a rise in power in the last minutes, Paris ended the first half four goals shy of Toulouse (30': 17-13). The Parisians had no choice but to hit with even more commitment after the break.

As soon as the game resumed, the second half looked set to take the same path as the first: with a first goal from Le Fenix and another superb save from their keeper. But, an ebullient Elohim Prandi replied with three goals in four minutes to keep his team afloat (39': 22-16). However, Toulouse proved inspired and reasserted their lead with five goals in as many minutes - against one for our Parisians. The gap was wide (50': 29-20). Dainis Kristopans scored twice in less than a minute (51': 30-22), but it seemed that nothing could stop the Toulouse team, for whom Jef Lettens (42%save rate) made a series of decisive interventions.

Despite their efforts, the team from the Stade Pierre de Coubertin could not reverse the trend (60': 35-27). Thus Paris Saint-Germain Handball conceded their first league defeat of the season - their first since April 2021. Now, Les Rouge et Bleu will start their preparations for the trip to the GETEC Arena in Germany at 20:45 on Wednesday. 

RAUL GONZALEZ AND LUKA KARABATIC'S REACTIONS:

(Credits: L. Valroff/Team Pics/PSG)