Paris roll on!

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On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball rounded out Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 18, with an opportunity to continue their flawless run in the league. Winner of their first 17 games, the capital club were logically in top spot, seven points clear of nearest chasers Aix and Nantes. To continue their run, they played host to a Nîmes side who found themselves in eight heading into the match. However, the USAM never lies down against our team, as they proved once again in the reverse fixture earlier this season (25-32).

In spite of the presence of the French league's top scorer Mohammad Sanad (142 goals), the Parisian defense resisted the Nîmes attack at the beginning of the game, shutting the visitor out for several long minutes (6': 3-0). Our rear-guard stood firm and our attack weren't bad either! This forced The Green Team's defenders to make mistakes and to concede temporary send-offs. Mikkel Hansen took full advantage to score from the penalty line (11': 6-2). With the first quarter of the game played, Les Rouge et Bleu had the match by the scruff of the neck (15': 10-4).

Between Yann Genty's pastis, Luc Steins' 100th Liqui Moly StarLigue goal for Paris and Luka Karabatic's superb strike with his back to goal, the Parisians were as effective as they were spectacular (19': 13-6). Although the match levelled off in intensity, Raul Gonzalez's men kept a solid lead on the scoreboard (25': 15-9). And they continue to score with style, with Kamil Syprzak producing a chabala (27': 17-10) with Benoît Kounkoud quickly following suit (28': 19-11). At the break, Paris were far from danger.

As the second half began, the two sides went blow for blow (34': 22-17). But after Raul called a time-out, his team regained a solid lead (37': 24-17). Adama Keita was particularly inspired and kept his team seven goals clear (39': 25-18). His counterpart on the right wing, Ferran Solé Sala, started to hit his straps and scored a nice goal after resisting a big foul (40': 26-18). In this context, and after a goal from Kamil, the capital club saw its lead climb to +10 (43': 28-18).

At the approach of the last ten minutes, Les Rouge et Bleu looked to be in a very favourable position (49': 32-23). But towards the end of the game, the goals dried up and the visitors made up a good part of their deficit (54': 32-28). Fortunately, our players righted the ship and got back to a comfortable position. Well led by Kamil and Luc, but also by a double save from Yann, they put an end to the suspense and Paris Saint-Germain Handball clocked an 18th successive victory! 

(Credits: A. Gadoffre/TeamPics/PSG)