Still on point
The context:
On Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball made the short trip to face neighbours Pontault-Combault in Lidl StarLigue Round 25 action. Stakes in the derby were low, with both sides knowing their fate - Paris having stitched up the title in Round 22 while their opponents were already assured of relegation.
The match:
Right from the start of the match, Les Rouge et Bleu showed who was boss and raced off to an early lead thanks to the precision of Luc Abalo and Nedim Remili (8’: 1-5). It was one-way traffic for a time but Paris' domination was held up by the home side's hitting back (11’: 5-6), by the match's being interrupted in the 16th minute to pay homage to Thierry Omeyer (16’: 8-12) and by the saves of Robin Cantegrel (21’: 8-14). Nonetheless, the Pontault-Combault 'keepers heroics were somewhat in vain as Raul Gonzalez's men largely bossed matters (27’: 11-19) and took seven-point lead into the break (30’: 12-19).
16' : Le match a été arrêté quelques instants à la 16ème minute, pour rendre hommage au célèbre numéro 16 parisien, @Thierry_Omeyer ! Superbe ovation pour notre dernier rempart (8-12) #PCHBPSG pic.twitter.com/SEeuDGGyXk
— PSG Handball (@psghand) May 29, 2019
In the second half, Paris continued to step on the gas and all of our outer-court players found the back of the net, from defender Viran Morros (34’: 13-22) to youngsters Édouard Kempf (40’: 14-28) and Dylan Nahi, who completed a quick-fire double featuring a deft lob and a superb chabala (47’: 16-31). The Parisian youth academy was well represented, with our two homegrown wingers flanking Adrien Chaudansson, Sadou Ntanzi and Robin Dourte on the court (51’: 20-35). There was little suspense as the minutes ticked down, but the Parisians closed the match out in style as Uwe Gensheimer chimed in with the inevitable wrist shot (53’: 20-36) and Rodrigo Corrales produced a fantastic save to underline the accomplished victory (23-39).
The Parisian in the match: Nedim Remili
Nedim Remili proved clinical in front of goal once again, putting seven past the excellent Cantegrel - including a couple of trademark rockets into the top corner. Our right-back has clocked 125 goals in 25 appearances this season.
The word: Margin
This 16-goal win over Pontault-Combault is Paris Saint-Germain Handball's biggest league win of the season so far, raising the bar set in the +15 win they bagged over Istres in Round 19 (44-29).
Coming up:
Paris Saint-Germain Handball have just one more match to play in the 2018-19 campaign: at home to Cesson-Rennes. The match will be a chance for the Parisians and their fans to bid farewell to the summer departures, but also to celebrate their title as Champions of France!
(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)