First home defeat for Les Rouge et Bleu
Handball•
On Thursday, Paris Saint-Germain Handball failed to overcome a clinical GOG, conceding a first EHF Champions League home defeat of the season to the Danish side (34-36).
After suffering a narrow defeat in Plock (35-32), their third in five matches, Stefan Madsen's men returned to home turf at Coubertin to face Danish side GOG. Unbeaten at home, the capital club welcomed an opponent an identical record of two wins and three defeats. The objective was clear: to parlay their perfect league form (seven wins in as many matches) into a return to the win column in Europe.
In a fairly cautious start to the match, it was GOG who finally opened the scoring, thanks to right-back Hjalte Lykke (3': 0-1). Yahia Omar then got Les Rouge et Bleu back on level terms with two fine goals (5': 2-2). It was a tight start to the game, with both teams playing aggressively in defence and trading blows. Moments after Oli Mittun's first goal, Elohim Prandi followed suit, holding off the defenders to finish in trademark style (8': 4-4).
On a counter-attack, Frederik Bjerre, the Danish team's top scorer after five games, opened his account and gave GOG their first break (10': 4-6). After a superb goal by Faroese superstar Oli Mittun, and with his team trailing by three goals, Stefan Madsen called the first timeout of the match (14': 6-9). Sharp and aggressive, the Scandinavians were more than holding their own against the Parisians in the first quarter of an hour.
Kasper Christensen's men continued their march forward, with Bjerre scoring his third goal on a lightning counter-attack (16': 7-12). Unable to find a way past veteran goalkeeper Peter Johannesson, who made save after save, the Parisians suffered in the face of their opponents' more incisive attacks (23': 8-16).
The capital club finally managed to find a way through, with Ferran Solé scoring his first goal from the penalty line, prompting Kasper Christensen to call a timeout (24': 9-16). With prodigy Oli Mittun (five goals) still doing the heavy lifting and a goalkeeper in top form, the Danes were still in front at half-time (30': 13-20). The Parisians needed to sharpen their aim if they were to remain undefeated at Coubertin.
Les Rouge et Bleu looked to lift their game after the re-start and managed to keep pace thanks to a powerful shot from Prandi (35': 17-23). After a magnificent penalty save by Mikkel Lovkvist, Elo' kept his side's hopes alive (38': 18-23). Stefan Madsen's men were clearly doing better at the start of the second half (40': 20-25).
However, they still struggled to contain the Danes' attacking verve, the visitors maintaining their lead despite a seventh goal from Prandi (46': 23-28). Oli Mittun continued his attacking exploits, scoring his ninth of the evening (49': 24-30). Elohim equalled this tally a few minutes later as the final minutes approached (54th minute: 29-34).
With eight goals, Ferran Solé was also in fine form in front of goal, but the lead built by GOG in the first half proved difficult to overcome (55': 30-35). Nonetheless, the Danes' taking their foot off the gas in the final stages allowed Paris to narrow the gap, with Luc Steins managing cheekily firing home through Johannesson's legs (59': 33-36). But in the end, Luka Karabatic's final goal changed nothing, and Paris conceded defeat to the more clinincal side (60': 34-36).
This first home defeat of the season saw the capital club lose fifth place to GOG. They will need to regroup ahead of Sunday's league match against Cesson Rennes. Their next Champions League fixture will be an opportunity for revenge in Denmark on 12 November.