Paris through to the semis!

Match reports

After a month-and-a-half-long international break for the 2023 World Cup 2023, Paris Saint-Germain Handball were back in action on Saturday night in the Coupe de France quarter-finals. For the two-time holders, their title defence To continue their title defence (Paris have won the last two editions), the capital club had to get past Chartres, who had given them plenty of trouble a few months earlier.

The Parisians got off to a great start! Well led by World Cup medallists Elohim Prandi (France) and Ferran Solé Sala (Spain), Les Rouge et Bleu soon carved out a handy lead (8': 3-6). However, giving up is not in Chartres's vocabulary. Little by little, the home side made up their deficit (13': 7-8) and, at the end of the first quarter, the two sides were back and neck (11-11).

Thanks in part to Dominik Mathé, who was playing his first game with Les Rouge et Bleu, our team once again took the lead (22': 12-16). But Raul Gonzalez's men continued to blow hot and cold and Chartres takes advantage of every difficult moment to get their noses back in front. At the break, after a last goal from Ferran, Paris were just one goal to the good (30': 19-20).

At the end of the second half, both teams really hit their straps in attack and the goals rained down (33': 21-23). In this see-sawing encounter, Jannick Green had to step in on several occasions to prevent CMHB from equalising (39': 25-26). The final minutes were approaching fast and although the Club of the capital were in front, the game was still far from decided (46': 27-29).

Suspense had been the order of the day right from throw-off and it lasted right up to the final moments (51': 32-32). However, with just minutes left, our team took the lead thanks to a counter from Luc Steins - and an exceptional save from Jannick (56': 33-34). Paris Saint-Germain Handball held out over the last few minutes and thus punched their ticket for the semi-finals!

(Credits: L. Valroff/TeamPics/PSG)