Paris go even higher!

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On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball took part in the headline clash for Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 20. As the runaway league leaders (19 victories in as many games), Paris played host to nearest rivals Nantes at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. In case of victory, the capital club would go nine points clear of their opponents on the night, but The H are also having a great season! Undefeated since falling to PSG in the sides' first meeting this season (29-30), Nantes' return to Coubertin promised to be a thriller!

Given that the match pitted the league's two best attacks (699 goals for Paris, 607 for The H) against each other, it was little surprise that the nets were shaking a lot in the early stages (4': 3-3). But after a few minutes of high intensity handball, it was goalkeepers Vincent Gérard and Emil Nielsen who stood out the most with some one-on-one saves (10': 5-4). The two teams went at it blow for blow and it looked like it would go down to the wire (14': 7-6). At the end of the first quarter, well led by a Luc Steins in good form, Les rouge et Bleu were the first to make the break (16': 9-6).

Defensively rigorous, Raul Gonzalez's men resisted the waves of Nantes attacks (20': 11-10) and maintained a decent lead (23': 13-10). In spite of this dominance, Paris couldn't really distance themselves from a Nantes side who refused to go more than three goals down (28': 17-15). This was a testament to Nielsen's and it took a magnificent reverse spin-shot from Mathieu Grébille to get past him (29': 18-15). A few seconds before the break, Vincent denied from Kiril Lazarov form the penalty line and helped his team to go back to the locker room with a four-point lead.

The resumption of play was well negotiated by The H, who set about clawing back their deficit (33': 19-17). Vincent had to produce two smart saves to prevent the visitors from levelling it up (35': 19-18); Les Rouge et Bleu were in the lead, but their opponents were never very far off (41': 23-21). To breathe a little more freely, Paris relied on their last line of defence, but also on Nedim Remili, who took a series of triumphant shots (43': 24-21). However, this was still not enough for Paris to see the match out at cruising speed (46': 24-23).

The two rear-guards remained very solid in the dying stages (49': 25-24), the Parisians switching to a 5-1 and considerably hindering Nantes' offensive line. Our attack takes advantage and fired four quick goals, capped in style by Luc (52': 29-25). The end of the game was essentially all Paris, with Mikkel Hansen racking up his 1300th Liqui Moly StarLigue goal (56': 30-25) and Benoît concluding a long-distance kung-fu teed up by Vincent (59': 34-27). Paris Saint-Germain Handball duly claimed their 20th consecutive win of the league season and put nearest chasers Nantes and Aix nine points adrift. Now it's time for the international break!

RAUL GONZALEZ, VINCENT GÉRARD AND BAPTSITE CLAY'S REACTIONS:

(Credits: L. Valroff/TeamPics/PSG)