Maintaining their impressive European form and continuing their perfect league campaign were top of the capital club's agenda when they took on Sélestat on Sunday. A few days after their hard-fought victory over Zagreb (35-32) in the EHF Champions League, Stefan Madsen's men returned to Coubertin to take on a newly promoted side still searching for their first win of the season. On paper, this may have looked like an uneven match-up, but the visitors were determined to pull off a surprise victory on the Parisians' turf.
With two of the best defences in the league facing each other, the start of the match was fairly tight, but it was the Parisians who struck first, through Yahia Omar (2': 1-0). Jannick Green was also effective, with two important saves to help his defence to withstand the initial Alsatian attacks. The capital club continued on the front foot, taking a comfortable lead in the opening minutes (6': 3-1). Faced with our strong defending, Sélestat needed a penalty to stay in touch, Tom Vinatier doing the job from seven metres (8': 4-1).
The visitors looked to be on the comeback trail, but Yahia then converted a penalty (10': 6-4). The scenario was repeated a few moments later, with the Egyptian scoring his fourth of the evening (12': 7-5). Following another save by Jannick, Mathieu Grébille gave Les Rouge et Bleu a three-goal lead (14': 9-6). The unstoppable Yahia Omar then ended a strong first quarter with a superb finish (16': 10-7).
On a lightning counterattack, Noah Gaudin beat the Sélestat goalkeeper in emphatic fashion, forcing Laurent Busselier to call his first timeout (16': 11-7). Pushing higher and showing mroe aggression in defence, the visitors forced the Parisians to try their luck from distance and went a man up following a temporary send-off for Gautier Loredon (19': 12-9). The time-out did Sélestat good (20': 13-10), but it was nothing to worry about for the capital club, who took a five-point lead thanks to young Theo Ducap (21': 15-10).
Stefan Madsen then called his first timeout of the match looking to maintain his team's dominance (23': 16-10). Jannick Green continued his impressive performance with a fifth save, and Les Rouge et Bleu took advantage of the space left on the counterattack, with Ducap scoring his third of the match (26': 18-11). For Sélestat, Grégoire Plat confirmed his fine first half with a sixth goal to keep their hopes alive, but Noah restored the gap before the half-time buzzer sounded (30': 19-14).
The second half started in much the same vein as the first had ended, with a fine kung-fu strike from Abdelrahman Abdou (32': 20-14). Mikkel Lovkvist, who came on at half-time, made his first save, continuing the impressive form he showed in this week's Champions League match. Led by Yahia, who scored his eighth goal, the Parisians continued their relentless march forward (36': 22-15).
However, Sélestat took advantage of a moment of uncertainty to stage a comeback, crowned by a goal from Pompon that reduced their deficit to three goals (41st minute: 23-20). Stefan Madsen quickly called another timeout to rally his team, and the capital club stepped up the pace once again. Gautier Loredon soon scored his ninth career goal against Sélestat, his favourite victims in the league (45': 25-21). Faced with Les Rouge et Bleus' renewed energy, Laurent Busselier stopped the game once again (46': 26-21).
Following a magnificent save by Lovkvist, Elohim Prandi, who had been struggling to score until then, finally bagged his first of the match (48': 27-22). Back in form, Elo' scored again and again, taking his total to six goals in just a few minutes (54': 33-25). Full of confidence, the capital club delighted their fans, who had turned out in force at Coubertin, and Sindre Heldal gave his side an even more comfortable lead (57': 35-26).
Mateo Maras sealed the Parisian victory in the final minute (60': 36-28). Stefan Madsen's men held their nerve to secure a deserved win against worthy opponents and duly returned to the top of the standings, alongside Montpellier. Les Rouge et Bleu return to European action this week with an important trip to Plock, before taking on Chartres on Sunday as they look to continue their perfect start to the league season.
(Credits: E. Renard/Team Pics/PSG)