Paris Saint-Germain Handball held off a late challenge by FC Porto to beat their Portuguese opponents in the EHF Champions League for a second time in a week on Thursday.

After their 34:31 win following a five-goal deficit last week, Paris this time only just held on to their lead to win by a single goal, 29:28, for their third victory of the group phase.

GROUP A

Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) vs FC Porto (POR) 29:28 (15:11)

• Paris' strong defence was led by goalkeeper Vincent Gérard, who had nine first-half saves for a 45 percent save rate
• PSG were still five goals up with seven minutes to play when Porto started their comeback, getting back to just one behind
• late goals by Nédim Rémili and Mikkel Hansen saved the win for PSG
• Hansen also become best scorer of the match, with nine goals

Vincent Gérard, PSG's barometer

He was the key for PSG’s excellent first half, with his nine saves in the opening 30 minutes, there to help his his team take a four-goal advantage. But when PSG struggled in the closing minutes, so did Gérard, as he had only three saves in the second half, along with a missed shot. When Vincent Gérard plays well, so do PSG.