The perfect run continues against Chambéry
Handball•
On Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 12, Paris Saint-Germain Handball defeated Chambéry (33-26) at Coubertin - an important win that kept Les Rouge et Bleu at the top of the league table.
Having temporarily dropped to second place in the Liqui Moly StarLigue standings following Nantes' victory in Dunkirk (30-34), Les Rouge et Bleu had to win to regain their throne. However, they were up against an ambitious Chambéry side in bullish form, having gone six games unbeaten. For their fourth consecutive home match at Coubertin, the Parisians had just one goal: to continue their flawless run in the league and regain pole position.
The task looked far from easy against Asier Antonio's men, who were looking to pull off a coup to stay in touch with the European places. For the capital club, it was also a chance to warm up before the big EHF Champions League clash in Barcelona later in the week. Boosted by the returnb for Karl Konan, recovered. from the injury he sustained against Montpellier, Stefan Madsen rallied his troops for the task at hand, and Wallem Peleka opened the scoring with two consecutive goals.
Nonetheless, the start of the game is tight, with the Savoyards staying in it (10': 5-5). After struggling in the first quarter of an hour, Les Rouge et Bleu started shifting up through the gears, thanks in particular to the effective entry of Elohim Prandi (5 from 6). With less than ten minutes to go before the break, the gap began to widen (23': 14-9).
Paris had hit cruising altitude, with Elo' continuing his scoring spree with a series of powerful and accurate shots that took him to seven goals. With Les Rouge et Bleus' offensive efficiency back on track, the match started turning in their favour, despite several saves by Valentin Kieffer at the end of the first half. At the buzzer, the capital club were out in front (30': 18-14).
However, making sure of this important win meant that they had to stay vigilant, and the Parisians set about doing just that after returning from the dressing room. Despite Kieffer's fine performance in goal (9 saves), Les Rouge et Bleu kept the visitors at bay. Stefan Madsen handed the game time around and had 12 different players score, with Yahia Omar adding his name to the scoreboard at the start of the last quarter of an hour (46': 25-19).
Chambéry struggled to stay in it as the match drew to a close, such was the Parisians' dominance at both ends of the court. With his 13th save of the match, Mikkel Lovkvist confirmed his excellent league form and dashed any remaining hopes for the Savoyards. Abdelrahman Abdou became his team's 13th goalscorer the afternoon, putting his side even furtther in front (56': 32-24).
After a timid first quarter of an hour, Paris had responsed well and ran out convincing winners over Chambéry (33-26). Crucially, this 12th victory in as many games saw Stefan Madsen's men retain their lead in the league - while also boding well for the clash in Barcelona in the middle of the week, where our Rouge et Bleu will need to put in a strong performance to take home the two points.
Now it's off to Catalonia! At 20:45 on Wednesday 3 December, the Parisians will travel to the Blaugrana's looking to take revenge after their narrow defeat in the first leg at Coubertin (27-30). They will then have another away game to negotiate in order to remain leaders, with a match against Tremblay on Saturday 6 December at 20:30.