Paris leave it late

News

Three days after playing their rescheduled Lidl Starligue match away to Tremblay (30-33), Paris Saint-Germain Handball were back in league action on Saturday afternoon. Their Lidl Starligue Round 8 trip tp Nîmes was never going to be an easy one, but it was a special one for former Green Team member Elohim Prandi.

Despite Paris Saint-Germain Handball's sitting atop the Lidl Starligue standings, they knew the trip to Parnasse would be no walk in the park. The first minutes of the match proved the truth of that instinct (5': 3-2) as the two teams give it their all! As soon as one of them scored, the other answered immediately, but neither one managed to take full advantage of their opponents' failures (8': 5-5). In this mano à mano, the locals made the break first (11': 7-5).

The Parisians had difficulty finding solutions to break through the defensive wall Nîmes put up. They also ran into the opposing goalkeeper, Rémi Desbonnet, on several occasions. The USAM attack took full advantage of this to make the break (16': 11-8). But then Nedim Remili flexed his muscles! After scoring a double, our right-back set up Benoît Kounkoud to bring his team back to within one goal (19': 12-11). The backline was inspired by this newfound success and paved the way for Elohim to score a screamer on his old stomping ground.

Les Rouge et Bleu began to fire on all cylinders in all areas but missed several chances to level the scores - thanks to the vigilance of Desbonnet or their own lack of cutting edge (23': 13-12). The minutes ticked over, but the sides remained locked one goal apart (27': 15-14). After two saves from Vincent Gérard, Raul Gonzalez's men levelled it up when a counter-attack by Henrik Toft Hansen paid off (28': 15-15). At the break, Nîmes and Paris were still neck and neck.

As the second half began, the only difference was that the teams had switched sides (33': 16-16). But this time, the Parisian rearguard, led by Vincent Gérard, was much less manoeuvrable. It was now the Parisians' turn to give themselves a bit of breathing space, thanks to another double from Nedim (37': 17-19). Without breaking free on the scoreboard, they did manage to switch to the front foot (41': 19-21).

The final minutes were fast approaching and the outcome of the match was still far from clear (43': 21-22). In this context, the lead continued to yo-yo (47': 23-22), and even when Nîmes thought they had turned it around (49': 24-22), Dylan Nahi and Mikkel Hansen rekindle the suspense (51': 24-24). The Danish international took advantage of another save from Vincent to give his team the advantage.

Deprived of captain Luka Karabatic, who was sent off the court after three exclusions, Les Rouge et Bleu faced a tough final phase of the match (55': 26-26). But they hunkered down and put themselves in a more comfortable situation, Nedim striking to [put then two and three goals in front a few moments before the end (57': 26-29). Elohim and Dylan each score one last time to punctuate the victory! Paris remain in sole control of the Lidl Starligue table, with eight wins from as many matches.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)