Paris roll on against Ivry

Match reports

Paris Saint-Germain Handball continued their perfect record! Victory over Ivry on Sunday afternoon (34-38) in Round 2 of the Liqui Moly StarLigue has given them their fifth win of the season in all competitions.

On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travelled to Ivry's Gymnase Auguste Delaune for Round 2 of the Liqui Moly StarLigue season. After a victorious trip to Szeged (29-31) last Thursday, on the opening day of the EHF Champions League, it was time for a derby against Francilien neighbours from Ivry. A short trip, but never an easy one!

In a great atmosphere at Auguste Delaune, the Parisians got off to a flying start with a goal from Gautier Loredon, on loan from our club (4', 3-1). Despite a number of equalisers, Ivry were quick to take the lead. Thanks to a great Andreas Palicka in goal, Les Rouge et Bleu were kept afloat and managed to regain the lead. Luc Steins beat the home defence from his own half and Paris were back in the game (15', 8-9)!

Raul Gonzalez's men struggled at times at the start of the first period, but managed to increase their lead to +2 with a powerful shot from Nikola Karabatic (20', 12-14). In the end, it was a dominant Paris side that finished the first half strongly, with Ferran Sole Sala in particular doing a fine job. The Spanish right-winger sealed the Parisian advantage as they went into the locker room (30', 16-20)!

At the restart, the Parisians came back with better intentions. Les Rouge et Bleu began to dominate, with Kamil Syprzak imperious in attack. The kingpin kept on scoring and Paris took off (17-22, 33'). Halfway through the second half, Paris Saint-Germain were still in front, with a superb shot from Nikola Karabatic finding the net (45', 24-31).

Ivry pushed hard to turn things around, but that wasn't enough to trouble the players from the capital, particularly Jacob Holm, who scored a magnificent goal that hit the crossbar before rattling the net (50', 29-34)! As in the first half, Andreas put in a great performance and saved yet another penalty (54', 29-35). Paris did not falter in the face of adversity and came out on top against US Ivry (60', 34-38)!

At the end of the match, the Gymnase Auguste Delaune paid a fitting tribute to Nikola Karabatic, in his 22nd and final season as a professional. Next on the agenda is the Champions League, with a clash against Zagreb at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Thursday 21 September.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, MATHIEU GRÉBILLE AND RUBEN MARCHAN:

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)