Before Thursday evening's game, Paris-Saint Germain Handball had won their last four games in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, while FC Porto were without points. If the result did not change the momentum for both sides, it was way closer than we could have expected just by looking at the standings.
Porto offered a fierce resistance in the first half, often being level on the scoreboard. PSG only broke away on the scoreboard at the start of the second half – thanks to stunning performances from Dainis Kristopans and Elohim Prandi.
GROUP A
Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) vs FC Porto (POR) 32:30 (17:15)
- the two sides could not quite separate from each other in the first half. Paris only took a three-goal advantage once, in the 22nd minute, but the visitors quickly reduced it
- strengthening their defence after the break, the hosts increased their advantage. With Elohim Prandi being their main offensive asset, PSG had a seven-goal lead in the 42nd minute (26:19)
- Porto did not let their heads down, though, as they kept on fighting. With Jack Thurin and Daymaro Salina in the spotlight, they fought back to only lose by two goals at the final siren
- Elohim Prandi was the best scorer of the game, netting 11 times for Paris
- after this loss, Porto have extended their longest losing run in the EHF Champions League to seven matches
Elohim Prandi – finally consistent
The French left back has always been a wonder. Able to score 10 goals against THW Kiel, Prandi was also the kind to miss in three games in a row. But it seems things are a little different now, as Prandi scored at least 10 goals in PSG's last two EHF Champions League games.
Last week in Bucharest and on Thursday evening against Porto, the 24-year-old French international seems to have finally found the recipe for consistency. Missing very few shots, Prandi has made everybody forget about about Nikola Karabatic’s absence. Long may it last.
For a goalkeeper the most positive thing in this type of game is to be able to stop goals to help the team to win. The first half was pretty difficult for me personally because they scored some different goals and we made technical mistakes. But we have two very goalkeepers in our team and we manage to work well together.
We are very happy with the win because it’s always difficult to win in Champions League. We played strong in the first half and we have a little problem with our defence. We were pretty when they changed their attack to 7-0. The most important thing is to have the two points tonight.
