A few days after qualifying for the Coupe de France semi-finals with victory in Saran (25-30), Paris Saint-Germain Handball returned to league action with a trip to Dunkirk. This trip to the north is never easy, especially as the Stade des Flandres was buzzing with a festive atmosphere for this match, which coincided with Dunkirk's iconic carnival celebrations.
In recent weeks, however, the atmosphere on the Opal Coast has been rather gloomy, as former Parisian Ludwig Appolinaire and his teammates have spent the winter in the relegation zone. As a result, Dunkerque were starting the second half of the season with a new coach in the form of Yohan Delattre, assistant to Guillaume Gille in the French national team.
In this clash of extremes between two teams fighting for very different goals, it was Paris who struck the first blow. As was the case against Saran, Les Rouge et Bleu combined well and relied on Elohim Prandi's power to make the difference. In less than five minutes of play, the capital club left-back had already established himself as one of the key players in this match, with three goals to his name (5': 1-4).
It was a start reminiscent of his dazzling performance three years ago, when he set a career goal-scoring record with 14 goals - in Dunkirk. Meanwhile in defence, Jannick Green was not to be outdone, continuing his strong form after a difference-making performance in midweek. If the Northerners were struggling offensively, it was largely due to the duo of Karl Konan and Luka Karabatic, who were allowing almost nothing through the middle (15': 4-7).
The home team called their first timeout a few minutes later, giving Yohan Delattre and Stefan Madsen time to make their first tactical adjustments (17': 5-9). This brief interlude saw Dunkerque gain confidence and pick up the pace in an attempt to close the gap before the break. The Lions' cutting edge seemed to have returned, and they exploited several Rouge et Bleu mistakes to level the score (27': 12-12). Thus the two teams went into the break on level pegging (30': 14-14).
Although the return to play lacked rhythm in the opening minutes, it was our Parisians who took the lead, thanks in particular to the imperious Jannick Green. With his ninth save of the evening, the Danish goalkeeper prevented the home side from regaining the lead (34': 15-16). However, the definitive sending off of Elohim Prandi - Paris's most decisive player of the evening (three goals, five assists) - cut Les Rouge et Bleu's momentum short.
This turn of events did nothing to shake the mental fortitude of Stefan Madsen's men, who managed to stay ahead thanks to Wallem Peleka, Yahia Omar and Mathieu Grébille, who had recently come on and scored a clinical goal from the left wing (42': 17-19). At the start of the final quarter, Paris had regained a three-point lead, as they had in the first half. Luc Steins, who had already cooked up four assists, took responsibility and broke through the defence to score twice himself (46': 19-22).
It was a comfortable lead, but far from definitive, especially as Dunkerque could count on Alejandro Romero Carreras, who was in inspired form with 12 saves to his credit. An imperious goalkeeper, but one who could do nothing about the capital club's penalty throws. Be it thanks to Kamil Syprzak (3/3) or Ferran Solé (2/2), the Parisians were perfect form the seven-metre line (52': 21-24).
After fighting hard throughout the match, Dunkerque seemed forced to concede defeat in the face of Paris's efficiency in the final minutes. Led by a Jannick Green with 15 saves to his credit, Les Rouge et Bleu secured a valuable victory in the title race (60': 25-29) and provisionally regained a two-point lead over Nantes.
Now it's time for the EHF Champions League to return, with an equally important trip to Croatia to take on Zagreb at 18:45 next Wednesday. Stefan Madsen's men will then return to their home crowd at Coubertin for their Matchday 17 league clash with Aix 16:00 on Sunday 22 February.
Yahia Omar, Wallem Peleka: four goals. Mathieu Grébille, Kamil Syprzak, Elohim Prandi: three goals. Mateo Maras, Luc Steins, Sebastian Karlsson, Ferran Solé, Noah Gaudin: two goals. Luka Karabatic, Sindre Heldal: one goal. Jannick Green: 15 saves.
