Paris maintain perfect record

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Four matches in eight days: that's the journey that Paris Saint-Germain Handball started last weekend. After stops in Chartres (Sunday), Coubertin (Tuesday) and Flensburg (Thursday), it was away to ninth-placed Istres, in their Lidl Starligue Round 18 clash, that Les Rouge et Bleu ended their odyssey on Sunday evening. Despite sitting atop the standings with 15 victories from as many games, Paris were well aware that the trip to the Halle Polyvalente - as is the case in every arena in France's top flight - could be a dangerous one and they knew that their last match for the week would not be a walk in the park.

After a long feeling-out period in which the two goalkeepers gave an excellent account of themselves (3' : 0-0), the Parisians looked to have to taken the measure of their opponents, with our two lefties Benoît Kounkoud and Dainis Kristopans finding the target (6' : 1-3). However, our team couldn't quite break free due to the efforts of former Parisians Arnaud Tabarand and Clément Gaudin, who made fine savers from most of our efforts, including two penalties. Fortunately, the opponents' offensive line did little better when they came up against Vincent Gérard (13': 2-4).

The Istrian defence were very aggressive - sometimes too much so... and Mikkel Hansen took full advantage! The Danish international hit the target from the penalty line to complete a quick-fire double (16': 4-6). Nonetheless, the locals stayed in the game (20': 6-7) and managed to claw their way back to level terms (20': 7-7) before taking the lead (21': 8-7). This proved an important wake-up call, and after Raul called a time-out, the capital club got back on track as Elohim Prandi heroically blocked a shot before Dylan Nahi produced a stunning spin-shot.

The match was still not going entirely in Paris's favour, but Vincent looked to tip the balance in the right direction with a magnificent double save (28': 12-13). It proved enough to allow the Parisians to take the lead just before the break, but they were still far from safe.

As was the case on Thursday evening in Flensburg, Les Rouge et Bleu got off to an excellent start as they returned form the dressing room. Dainis was in the thick of the action and had pour side four goals to the good in the space of a few minutes (33': 13-17). In fact, our players put five unanswered goals past their opponents at the start of the second half, Luka Karabatic capping the blitz with a deft lob (35': 13-18) that helped Paris to really impose their rhythm on the match (37': 13-19). The home side's attack began to struggle to find a way past our rearguard and then they did, Yann Genty was on hand to make things even tougher (39': 14-20).

As the minutes passed, the Parisians underlined their dominance with numerous counter-attacks (43': 15-23). In spite of their handy advantage, they refused to ease up, continuing to play a lightning pace. The strategy paid off, with the opposing defence not allowed time to get back into position and often finding themselves caught off guard (48': 18-26). At the other end of the court, everything was going well for Les Rouge et Bleu. Our goalkeeper Yann even indulged in his specialty, the pastis (catching a shot rather than parrying it), on an Istrian attack.

A few moments before the final buzzer, the result seemed beyond doubt (53': 20-28) and was made definitive when Ferran Solé Sala and Nedim Remili scored the goals to make it +10 (54': 20-30) and then +11 (55': 20-31). Thanks to a superb second half, Paris Saint-Germain Handball clinched a sixteenth victory in as many Lidl Starligue outings and consolidates their position atop the standings! The next domestic rendezvous is scheduled for 20 March and the visit of Ivry. Until then, two European matches await Les Rouge et Bleu at Coubertin: Elverum on Tuesday and Szeged on Thursday.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)