Winning return to league action at Coubertin

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Back at Coubertin after a week on the road, Paris Saint-Germain handball returned to winning ways in the league against Pays d'Aix on Sunday (37-34). Here's our look back on this Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 17 fixture.

A solid and spectacular start

One week after being held to a draw in Dunkerque (28-28), the capital club returned to Coubertin with one goal in mind: to get back to winning ways and catch up to Nantes. To do so, Raul Gonzalez could count on a major return: that of Rouge et Bleu captain Luka Karabatic. However, they had to be wary as there was no room for error againstan Aix outift that had scalped Toulouse the previous week (31-29).

A few days after their fine win in Fredericia (32-38), Les Rouge et Bleu seemed to pick up where they left off. From the very first minutes, Coubertin was treated to an accomplished display in all areas of the game. The capital club first distinguished itself in defence, with two saves from Jannick Green. Ruben and Yahia then dazzled the crowd with their technique - the former with a splendid spin shot, the latter with a perfectly executed kung-fu (7': 4-1).

Paris in the lead at the break

While Joze Baznik had made his first saves a few minutes earlier, Elohim Prandi decided to vary his game with a nice left-handed chabala that caught the visiting 'keeper off guard (11‘: 7-3). After this first strike, Elo’ soon returned to his trademark long-range power, pushing his team further ahead (15': 11-6).

After the first quarter of an hour, which was unquestionably dominated by Paris, Aix sharpened up in front of goal and gradually got back into the match (21': 13-11). Paris, however, took advantage of a spell of numerical superiority to once again widen the gap, forcing PAUC to call a time-out (25‘: 17-13). While Aix's tactical adjustments paid off, our Les Rouge et Bleu were still ahead at the break (30’: 18-16).

Ruthless Ferran

Returning from the changing rooms with a numerical advantage, Paris took the opportunity to extend their lead thanks to an inspired effort from Ferran, who scored with a sublime backhand shot (33': 22-18). Despite doing well to get forward, Aix struggled with their final pass after the restart and committed a number of technical fouls. Taking charge of the capital club's seven-metre throws on the night, Ferran proved rock solid and took his total to six goals from as many attempts (37‘: 25-20). The lead continued to grow with every minute, Raul Gonzalez's proving merciless as they put three unanswered goals past the visitors (40’: 27-20).

The side from Provence decided to call another time-out to try to stop the bleeding, but still struggled to make up the deficitas our Parisians maintained an intense pace to try to keep a significant lead (45': 30-23). A starter on the left wing, Wallem Peleka added his name to the list of scorers to give the capital club some breathing space after after the Parisians had dipped for a short spell (50': 32-28).

A crucial win

Far from having given up in this match, Aix cut the gap to just two goals heading into what promised to be another breathless final stretch. Having come on for Jannick Green a few minutes earlier, Andreas Palicka put on a show to keep his team in the lead. Be it from the penalty line, to denyGabriel Loesch or from a powerful Louis Despreaux effort, our Swedish 'keeper was ruthless (56': 34-31).

These saves proved crucial in the closing stages of the match, as Yahia and Elo‘ took turns to score a sixth goal of the evening to give the capital club a deserved victory (60’: 36-33). Our Rouge et Bleu thus returned to winning ways in the Liqui Moly StarLigue in front of their home crowd, and are now just one point behind leaders Nantes.

What's next for Les Rouge et Bleu

The capital club be back at Coubertin on Thursday for a top-of-the-table EHF Champions League clash with Group A leaders Veszprém. This final home game of the group stage could prove crucial in terms of direct qualification for the quarter-finals of the competition, making it an event not to be missed!

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(Credits: E. Renard/PSG)