Paris
After their victory over Dunkerque on the opening day of the season, Paris Saint-Germain were looking to continue their unblemished start to the league campaign and bounce back from defeat in Magdeburg in their EHF Champions League opener.
The start of the match was evenly balanced, with two goals and two misses for each team, as Gaudin equalised with a perfect cross-shot (2-2, 4'). The hosts were reduced to six players but held their own and stayed in touch with the Parisians, who struggled to pull away (4-4, 8'). Saint Raphaël even managed to take the lead in their packed home arena thanks to Mapu, who scored spectacularly past Green (8-6, 13').
But Paris fought back, and the two teams remained neck and neck even though Yahia fired in a rocket to give his side a narrow lead just before the first timeout of the match (9-10, 20'). Jannick Green made an important save before Solé finally gave Les Rouge et Bleu a two-goal lead, the first break of the game for Stefan Madsen's men (11-13, 25').
Paris then put together a strong defensive sequence to maintain their lead, and the end of the first half was tense. Raphaël came back to level the score, but Paris regained the lead just before the buzzer with a penalty converted by Syprzak (13-14, 30').
The start of the second half was just as tense, with Benjamin Braux's men even regaining the lead (18-17, 38') - further proof that both teams were determined to stay on top. It was more of the same five minutes later, with the Parisians coming back from a two-goal deficit thanks to Steins, who broke through and made the difference (20-20, 43').
With fifteen minutes to go, Paris stepped up the pace and really found their range. Syprzak put the Raphaël defence under pressure, finding the weaknesses and allowing Paris to pull ahead slightly (20-22, 46'). Finally, there was a chance to go three goals ahead, and Syprzak did not hesitate to give Paris their biggest lead of the match thus far (20-23, 47').
Paris were sharper and defended better, and with less than ten minutes to go, they took off and ballooned their lead to six goals when Yahia earned a penalty that was duly converted by Syprzak (22-28, 54'). Paris wore down their opponents in the south, securing a sixth consecutive victory in Saint-Raphaël (25-33) and their second of the league campaign. They now turn their attention to Pelister's visit to the Stade Pierre de Coubertin next Thursday.
