New arrivals pave path to PSG victory

After losing the last two group phase openers on German ground in 2015 (at Flensburg) and 2016 (at Kiel), Paris Saint-Germain ended this streak with a well-deserved 25:22 success in Kiel.

Match winners for the 2017 finalists were new arrivals Sander Sagosen (six goals) and Rodrigo Corrales (14 saves).

•  Noka Serdarusic (1993-2008 coach at Kiel) won the duel against his successor, Alfred Gislason.

•  16 saves from Niklas Landin could not prevent Kiel from suffering a home defeat.

•  It was PSG’s fifth win against Kiel in the last six duels.

GROUP B

THW Kiel (GER) vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) 22:25 (10:12)

Only 22 goals scored before the break, proves the focus both sides had put on defence. Both goalkeepers, Kiel’s Niklas Landin and PSG’s new arrival Rodrigo Corrales, played incredibly strong throughout the whole match and the Paris defence held firm like a wall of concrete.

By the time Kiel scored their first goal, a rocket by Marko Vujin, 10 minutes was played and the score was just 2:1 to the guests.

The hosts were never ahead during the entire 60 minutes, while new PSG arrival Sander Sagosen fit perfectly in his new club.

The Norwegian international scored four goals before the break and six in total, while Nikola Karabatic played almost exclusively in defence.

Kiel’s strikers had struggled to find the back of the net, but eventually managed to reduce the 12:7 deficit to 12:10 at the half-time buzzer.

THW coach Alfred Gislason was left unimpressed as he saw his side concede a trio of counter-attacks from Uwe Gensheimer and another Sagosen goal, giving PSG a 18:12 lead.

With Corrales still on a high, Paris were ahead in all departments, though Landin kept his side alive with 16 saves and even one goal.

But when Vujin missed a penalty and the gap was widened to 24;18, PSG had all but secured their second win at Kiel, after the 30:26 victory in 2015.

Gislason admitted: “It was a well-deserved win for Paris. We were very nervous in the beginning and caused many mistakes against a strong PSG defence.

“Niklas Landin saved us from a bigger deficit, later we improved in defence. Paris could have won with a bigger margin, but we fought hard. They are far ahead of us at the moment.”

PSG goalkeeper Rodrigo Corrales said: “We started well in defence and went a few goals ahead. This is how we wanted to start the season.”