Paris roll on!

The context:

After their win in the Coupe de la Ligue final, Paris Saint-Germain Handball got right back to Lidl Starligue duties on Thursday, taking on Chambéry in their Round 18 fixture. Having played two matches over the weekend (in the Coupe de la Ligue Final4) while Chambéry enjoyed some time off, Paris Saint-Germain Handball were at a slight disadvantage as they headed to Le phare, where Chambéry's fans created an electric atmosphere despite the club's having followed a promising start to the season with some mediocre results 2019.

The match:

After a few minutes spent warming up (2’: 2-0), the Parisian machine got into gear and put an unanswered six goals past their hosts, the unplayable Kim Edkahl du Rietz helping to turn the match on its head (8’: 3-6). Things got extremely tough for the hosts, who struggled to find a way past the excellent Rodrigo Corrales (14’: 4-8) and his rock-solid defence(18’: 6-10). This stalwart defending gave rise to several counter-attacks converted into goals by the mercurial Luc Abalo and Uwe Gensheimer (25’: 9-14). Paris' slow start had given way to some steamrolling handball and the visitors went into the break with a comfortable lead (10-16).

In the second half, Les Rouge et Bleus' attack proved just as dominant as their defence, peppering the Lidl Starligue's Player of the Month for February Yann Genty with shots early on (35’: 11-19). Our lead even blew out to ten goals when Henrik Toft Hansen once again found the back of the net (40’: 12-22), but the match was not over even though Nedim Remili continued to menace (48’: 15-25 ; 53’: 17-26). In the closing stages, Raul Gonzalez brought on Adama Keita as playmaker and Gauthier Ivah in goal, and the youth academy products did extremely well, the former scoring with a powerful strike (57’: 19-30) while the latter pulled off a super double save before rounding out the match by denying Fahrudin Melic's penalty (21-30).

The Parisian in the match: Rodrigo Corrales

Rodrigo Corrales made a season-best 17 saves when the sides first met in the league this season (26-22), and on Thursday the Spaniard was at it once again. In fact, he did even better this time around, saving at 49% compared to 46% in December. Rodri also carved out several long shutouts that paved the way for this excellent win before he made way for youngster Gauthier Ivah in the final minutes.

The word: Leader

Thanks to this win, Les Rouge et Bleu tightened their grip on top spot even further! With their nearest rival Montpellier losing at home to Ivry (30-32), on Wednesday night, Paris took a provisional six-point lead atop the Lidl Starligue standings. This lead could be reduced to five points if Nantes win their rescheduled clash at home to Pontault-Combault on Saturday afternoon. Paris Saint-Germain Handball are the only Lidl Starligue yet to taste defeat after 18 matches this season (their unbeaten run is actually 31 matches long, dating all the way back to 21 December 2017!).

Coming up:

The capital club's next few important matches won't involve taking the court. Rather, they will keep a watchful eye on the first leg of the Velux EHF Champions League round of 16 between Zaporozhye and Kielce at 17:30 on Saturday (the return leg in Poland will be played a week later). The winner of this tie will take on Les Rouge et Bleu in the quarters. Paris return to Lidl Starligue action on Wednesday night as Istres come calling at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)