Paris prevail at Coubertin!

News

48 hours after their match in Veszprém (36-34), Paris Saint-Germain Handball were back in action as Sélestat came calling in Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 2 action on Saturday afternoon. On this occasion, Les Rouge et Bleu made their return to the Stade Pierre de Coubertin three months after the last official match in their arena. 

As Paris began their first match back at Coubertin, Andreas Palicka kept his goal inviolate for several long minutes. As for the attacking line, it took a few attacks to find the target, but they found the necessary accuracy to take the lead (6': 4-0). The gap could have been even bigger without several saves from Alsatian goalkeeper, Gretar Gudjonnson (11': 6-2). But it was his counterpart from Paris who hogged the limelight in this first quarter of an hour, with a penalty denied and a quick-fire seven saves (13': 6-2). At the other end of the court, Dainis Kristopans brought the fireworks, teeing Elohim Prandi up to score with a kung-fu (15': 7-2).

While Sadou Ntanzi scored his 100th Liqui Moly StarLigue goal, Andreas took advantage of an empty net to score a goal of his own (18': 13-4). He was not the only newcomer to shine, with Yoann Gibelin striking to put Les Rouge et Bleu ten points clear (20': 14-4). Dominant in all sectors, the Parisians were deserved leaders in this first act (27': 18-7). After more saves from the Swedish 'keeper, combined with the cutting edge of our forwards, Raul Gonzalez's men returned to the locker room with a more than healthy lead!

The second half started the same way the first had ended: with Parisian dominance. After the break, our young players took their turn to shine, with a goal by Gautier Loredon and a save by Léo Villain (34': 23-9). Our defence was solid and delayed their opponents' attempts to the maximum, which made things considerably easier for Léo (41': 27-13). Meanwhile, Gautier continued to shine by hitting a triple in the space of a few minutes as the capital club's lead continues to grow (43': 28-13). 

With ten minutes left to play, our players still had the game well in hand (51': 32-20). Even more so when their advantage increased to +14 with five minutes to go - thanks to Ferran Solé Sala (55': 34-20). A few moments later, Paris Saint-Germain Handball claimed their second victory in as many league games this season. The next appointment will be European - once again at home - against Plock, on EHF Champions League Matchday 2.

(Credits: E. Renard/Team Pics/PSG)