Paris hold off Aix

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A few days after qualifying for the EHF Final4 by beating Kiel (34-28), Paris Saint-Germain Handball swapped Europe for the Lidl Starligue where they sit atop the standings. Even though, since Saturday, the capital club had been locked on 46 points with second-placed Montpellier after the MHB had drawn with Nîmes (29-29), they stayed in top spot on goal difference - while also having three matches in hand. On Sunday afternoon, they travelled to fourth-placed Aix for their Round 27 clash - the first blockbuster of a road trip that will also see them stop by Chambéry, on Wednesday.

In a tense start to the game, neither team capitalised on the other's mistakes to pull away (4': 2-2). Little by little, Aix goalkeeper Sandro Mestric got the upper hand over our offensive line, and the goals dried up. Aix took advantage made the first break of the game (7': 4-2) but, fortunately, Vincent Gérard had the answers and kept our team in the game (10': 4-4). After this hesitant period, Les Rouge et Bleu took charge and went two goals clear thanks to strikes from Luc Steins and Kamil Syprzak (14': 6-8).

After the attacks had taken centre stage, the defences began to duke it out (18': 7-8) with the two goalkeepers, Vincent and Mestric, working particularly hard to keep the score at a standstill. Their saves, combined with unforced errors, saw the scoring slow to a trickle (21': 7-9). Our defenders' effort also made a difference, with Luc diving spectacularly to intercept and nip an Aix attack in the bud. But, at the other end of the court, Paris weren't taking advantage and missed several chances to go three goals clear (24': 9-11), even going close to being caught (25': 10-11).

However, the three-goals lead materialised a few moments later when our rearguard won possession and launched Ferran Solé Sala on a solo raid to beat the PAUC 'keeper (27': 10-13). After a double from the Spanish international, just before the buzzer, the Parisians were still in the lead at the break, but knew they were in a real fight against a strong team.

The second half didn't start very well for our lads and Aix quickly made up the deficit (33': 14-14). Once again, both teams lacked efficiency and came up against defensive walls (36': 14-15). Even a kung-fu from Dainis Kristopans, set up by Elohim Prandi, hit Mestric's post in stead of the back of the net (37': 15-15). The locals then went in front and it took a triple from Nedim Remili, who found both top corners, to see Les Rouge et Bleu get back on level terms (39': 18-18). But, against the league's third-best defence, Paris still had difficulties to score (41': 19-19).

At the approach of the last quarter of the game, our players seem to have finally settled in and began finding solutions, notably through pivots Luka Karabatic and Kamil Syprzak (43': 20-21). Meanwhile Luc slalomed his way through the Aix defence to find the net and keep PSG's nose in front (46': 22-23). But Aix were not willing to give up and went on the offensive (48': 24-24). To get his team out of this bad situation, it was Nedim who stepped up to the plate, scoring from all over the court (49': 24-25) and putting the capital club two goals to the good!

With less than ten minutes left, the Parisians regained the ascendancy, with a goal by Benoît Kounkoud and a penalty save from Vincent (51': 24-27). Of course, it was still too early to think that the match was over (56': 27-28) and the outcome was still unclear up until the final seconds, when Vincent won a final duel with William Accambray to clinch victory for Paris Saint-Germain Handball, who now have a two-point lead over nearest rivals Montpellier - with two matches hand!

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)