Paris (AFP)
Nantes alone took second place in the French Handball Championship thanks to its victory Thursday in Montpellier, 29 to 28, in the last match of 2019.
The Nantes are six points from the invincible Paris-Saint-Germain, which has a perfect record of 13 wins in 13 games before the long holiday break and then Euro-2020. They are three in third place, eight points from PSG: Montpellier, Nîmes and Toulouse.
The two teams first engaged in a mano a mano where Montpellier had up to three goals ahead in the first period. Then the "H" passed definitively ahead twenty minutes from the end, thanks to a big defensive work.
"We have rediscovered the virtues that allowed us to perform in the Champions League (finalist in 2018 ahead of Montpellier, note). We were a united team with rage even if there is still waste," said Dragan Pechmalbec, whose activity has enabled the "H" to recover numerous balloons.
The people of Montpellier have admitted that they missed out on their subject. "It's hard to digest. This match was very valuable, psychological and also accounting. We had to keep our invincibility at home. I didn't recognize my team, we didn't manage the match" , commented Valentin Porte at the microphone of BeinSports.
Spanish winger Valero Rivera was Nantes' top scorer with six goals, ahead of pivot Nicolas Tournat and back Kiril Lazarov (5 each). The young Danish goalkeeper Emil Nielsen was decisive with 11 saves, including one to avoid the equalization of Montpellier in the final moments.
© 2019 AFP