Paris show steel to win in Plock

Comptes-rendus

Paris Saint-Germain Handball won a hard-fought encounter in Plock on Thursday (23-24). Here's a look back at the Match Of The Week from EHF Champions League Matchday 3.

After a difficult trip to Veszprém (41-28), Les Rouge et Bleu faced another European challenge away from Coubertin on Matchday 3. Facing Raul Gonzalez's men were Wisla Plock, still looking for their first point on the European stage after falling to Sporting in Lisbon (34-29) and at home to Dinamo Bucharest (26-28). It was a match with plenty at stake for both sides, and promised to be a great battle at the Orlen Arena.

From the outset, the Parisians were undaunted by the electric atmosphere of the Orlen Arena and took an early lead thanks to goals from Elohim Prandi and Luc Steins (3': 0-2). Les Rouge et Bleu got off to a good start, but then slowed down in the face of the Polish side's intensity (8': 5-3). But the Parisians still had their individual talents to look to: Elo‘, who is used to blasting over the top from nine metres out, produced a fine finish to reduce the deficit (12’: 7-5).

Despite having fallen behind, Paris kept up the pressure on the hosts (15': 8-5). Local man Kamil Syprzak showed no mercy against his former club, and Les Rouge et Bleu continued their comeback (21': 10-8). As the minutes ticked by, the capital club tightened up their defence and made the most of their counter-attacks, Luc Steins scoring a superb hat-trick to bring his side level with Plock (26': 11-11). At the end of a breathless first half, the two sides went into the dressing room neck and neck (30': 13-13).

After the break, the goalkeepers put on a show. While former Nantes man Viktor Hallgrimsson made his 11th save of the evening from the penalty line, Andreas won two duels in quick succession to keep Les Rouge et Bleu in the game (37': 15-13). With twenty minutes to go, Plock decided to stop play (41': 15-14) - a time-out that also allowed Raul Gonzalez to adjust his tactics and make some strong choices: the Parisians switched to a seven-man attack. It was a decision that quickly paid off, as the capital club turned the tide and took the lead heading into the final quarter of an hour (45': 17-18).

Despite being a man down, Les Rouge et Bleu remained solid and held on to a one-goal lead heading into the final period (50': 18-20). In the final minutes, the intensity went up a notch. Under pressure, Plock came up against the efficiency of Andreas, whose pastis further demoralised of a Polish side now trailing by three goals (53': 19-22). Once again with a numerical superiority, Plock played their last cards and managed to come back to within a goal in the final moments, completely reviving the match (59': 23-24). But man of the match Andreas Palicka pulled Paris out of the fire with a penalty save on the buzzer, giving Paris a precious win over Plock (60': 23-24).

Reactions from Raul Gonzalez and Luka Karabatic:

(Credits: L. Valroff/PSG)