We’d missed the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, but finally it was time to come home! And what better way to kick off this first home match of the season than as an undefeated side? Thus far, the capital club had shown nerves of steel in Aix-en-Provence to beat Montpellier in the Trophée des Champions (20–21); maturity in Chambéry to kick off the league campaign with two points (29–32); and plenty of spirit in Aalborg to snatch a thoroughly deserved draw in their Champions League opener (33–33).
On Saturday, an ambitious Breton side with plenty of strengths stood in the way for Stefan Madsen and his men...
There was plenty of action in the first half at Coubertin. In an electric atmosphere - which came thanks in no small part to the Ultras - Les Rouge et Bleu got off to a flying start courtesy of a brace from Mateo Maras. The Croatian international even put on a show by finishing off a kung-fu set up by Emil Mellegard (5': 4–3). However, the Bretons hadn’t come just to make up the numbers, and managed to stay neck and neck during an intense first quarter of an hour (15': 7–7).
But the Parisian defence held firm, with Mikkel Lovkvist making no fewer than eight saves by half-time (35 per cent save rate). While the capital club enjoyed a fairly comfortable lead for a while and looked set to go into the break ahead (25': 13–10), Sébastien Leriche’s men capitalised on several consecutive turnovers and Mate Sunjic’s rising form (six saves) to completely turn the game around and take the lead at half-time (30': 13–15).
Paris came out all guns blazing in the second half. Building on his strong first-half performance, Mikkel Lovkvist produced a string of saves (11 saves, 34 per cent). Les Irréductibles were still in the lead (39': 15–17), but Stefan Madsen’s time-out, called with twenty minutes to go, gave Les Rouge et Bleu a new lease of life and they duly levelled the score (41': 17–17). A neck-and-neck battle then ensued in the electric Coubertin atmosphere.
Just as the visitors had regained a two-goal lead (49': 20–22), a brace from Bjarki Elisson and a marvellous goal from Luc Steins allowed the capital club to regain control of the match (52': 23–22). Sébastien Leriche called a time-out but it made no difference; the match had definitively swung in favour of our French champions (55': 25–22)! Whilst Rodrigo Corrales, who had come on a few minutes earlier, was in his element between the posts, Ferran Solé produced yet another standout performance (nine goals) to seal a result that came, once again, through sheer determination in front of a crowd delighted to have their warriors back on home turf (60': 30–24).
The season is now well and truly under way, and next week promises to be full of excitement at Coubertin, with two matches on the programme. First up, Paris will play host to Zagreb in their Champions League Matchday 2 clash on Wednesday 16 September. Then, on Sunday, Stefan Madsen’s men will return to their home ground in the west of Paris to take on Chartres at 17:00.
Ferran Solé: nine goals; Elohim Prandi: five; Mateo Maras: four; Bjarki Elisson and Emil Mellegard: three each; Luc Steins, Kamil Syprzak and Simen Lyse: two each. Mikkel Lovkvist: 11 saves; Rodrigo Corrales: three.
Luc Steins showed real determination as, in the final stretch, he put Pairs in front (52': 23–22) for the first time since the 26th minute, when they had led 13-12!
