Paris run away with it

News

The context:

On Wednesday night, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travelled to Toulouse for their Lidl Starligue Round 15 clash. While our team were enjoying an impressive run in the league coming into the match, so were their opponents, who had racked up four wins on the bounce.

The match:

Paris took several minutes to bag their opener against a Fenix side who allowed them few solutions going forward. But once Uwe Gensheimer got his side going in the right direction (6’: 2-1), it seemed that nothing could stop them. Especially when Nedim Remili conjured an uber-powerful shot that almost took the net off Yassine Idrissi's goal (13’: 7-8), or when Uwe put his side three goals to the good (24’: 12-15). However, things took another turn when the Moroccan 'keeper took advantage of a rush by Rodrigo Corrales to level matters (29’: 17-17). Things looked set for the sides to go into the break on level pegging, but our Scandinavian duo of Sander Sagosen and Mikkel Hansen gave Les Rouge et Bleu some breathing room before half-time (17-19).

Unlike in the first half, Raul Gonzalez's men had an almost perfect start to the second term. In defensive terms, Thierry Omeyer shut out the home side for several long minutes (32’: 17-21), while at the other end of the court, Paris' front line were ice-cold as Mikki, Luc Abalo, Henrik Toft Hansen and Nedim widened the lead (36’: 17-24). The only black spot was a straight send-off for Viran Morros for a hand in the face. The home side took advantage of the moment to chip away at their deficit (40’: 20-24), but overall the capital club were never in danger as they cruised through the final 30 minutes. (46’: 24-29). Towards the end, with the suspense all but over, Titi underlined Paris' dominance by stopping a penalty from the dangerous Ferran Sole (49’: 24-30) before PSG Handball youth academy product Robin Dourte scored his first-ever Lidl Starligue goal (57’: 28-35) and his side's last for the match (30-35).

The Parisien in the match: Thierry Omeyer

Thierry Omeyer hit the ground running when he came on at the break, instantly proving a thorn in Toulouse's side. He shut the opponents out for six minutes in a decisive phase of the match that saw Paris run away with the score. Omeyer finished the match with eight saves (40%), including one from a penalty in the final minutes.

The word: Clinical

Paris' forwards were incredibly efficient in front of goal, hitting the back of the net with 76% of their shots. A stat due to the fine finishing of Henrik Toft Hansen (3 from 3), Robin Dourte (1 from ), Luka Karabatic (1 from 1), Mikkel Hansen (7 from 8) and of course Uwe Gensheimer (8 from 10).

Coming up: 

After maintaining their lead over second-placed Nantes (who beat Istres 39-31), Paris Saint-Germain Handball can now dedicate themselves to their other main objective: topping Velux EHF Champions League Group B. To do so, they need just one more point - a point that will be up for grabs as they travel to face Celje in Round 13 action on Sunday evening. And unless they lose, they will qualify directly for the quarter-finals.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)