Ten out of ten!

News

The context:
On Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travelled to neighbours, Créteil for their Lidl StarLigue Round 9 clash. Our team had won all their matches before the start of this game and were league leaders, but for their opponents the trajectory had been very different - they had only won once since the beginning of the season and sat at the bottom of the standings.

The match:
Although the start of the match was relatively tight (6': 3-3), it was Créteil who got off to the better start. With 'keeper Mickaël Robin leading by example with some sensational saves, the hosts made the break (12': 9-6). However, little by little, the Parisian machine clicked into gear. Our captain on the night (in the absence of Luka Karabatic), Mikkel Hansen, led the way for his team-mates by finding the weaknesses in the hosts' defence (16': 10-9), with Luc Abalo duly following suit! Our right-winger came off the bench in the first half and scored twice to level the score (23': 12-12) and then get the capital club on top with his 500th Lidl StarLigue goal (24': 12-13. This was a hammer blow for Créteil and Les Rouge et Bleu took full advantage of their opponents' being on the ropes! Before the break, Nikola Karabatic (25': 12-15) and Gudjon Sigurdsson (28': 13-19) took turns scoring and allowed Paris to head into the break with a healthy lead (30': 14-20).

View this post on Instagram

Face à l'@uschb, @luc.abalo19 vient d'inscrire son 500ème but en @lidlstarligue ! #CREPSG #legende

A post shared by Paris Saint-Germain Handball (@psghandofficiel) on Nov 20, 2019 at 11:59am PST

When the second half began, Paris continued to dominate. As the minutes went by, the gap widened under Mikki's attacks (35': 16-24). The Danish international was in sparkling form and continued to impress with a string of goals! It was his penalty throw that put Paris ten goals to the good (43': 19-29) and by this stage the outcome of the match seemed fairly clear. Despite this very promising scoreline, Raul Gonzalez's men refused to take their foot off the gas. Dylan Nahi, with a blinding counter (46': 21-31), and Nikola Karabatic, who produced a magnificent lob (49': 22-32), maintained the Parisian lead in style. In the final minutes, the Mikkel Hansen show resumed centre stage, our left-back scoring from almost all his shots (53': 27-35 ; 57': 27-37)! It was finally Polish pivot Kamil Syprzak who capped a superb attacking display with his side's final strike (29-38).

The Parisian of the match: Mikkel Hansen
Mikkel Hansen was impressive! The game's leading scorer with 14 goals (from 17 attempts), he equalled his record of goals in a single game (his third time). It should also be noted that he managed to convert eight of the nine penalty throws he took.

The word: Flawless
Les Rouge et Bleu continue on their merry way! With ten wins in ten Lidl StarLigue games for, they are in sole control of the league standings, six points clear of their nearest rival.

Coming up:
Lidl StarLigue leaders Paris Saint-Germain Handball can now confidently focus on their next European objective. On Sunday afternoon, they travel to Denmark to face Aalborg in their Velux EHF Champions League Round 9 clash. A win -combined with a misstep from Barcelona, who host Flensburg - would see them take top spot in Group A.

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)