Kiel end Veszprém series in more than style

“Ole, here comes the THW”! 10.250 fans in the Sparkassen Arena were shouting their anthem as loud as they could, when the ehfTV.com Match of the Week was ended. The defending VELUX EHF Champions League winners, who had lost two Group matches already, proved their absolute will to dominate this competition again. In a never expected clear way THW beat the previously unbeaten team of MKB Veszprém by 32:21 (17:13) and took more than revenge for the 30:31 defeat in the first leg in Hungary.

It was a return in more than style, especially in the second half, when Veszprém after eight victories in eight matches before did not know what to do and resigned completely against the unstoppable dominance of the Germans.

After this result, Kiel still can hope to finish first in this group, but do not have the fate in their hands. They do not only have to win at Constanta in their last match, but have to hope for a Madrid victory at Veszprem next Saturday, too. A draw is already enough for the Hungarians to remain on top.

Top scorers in this high class but one-sided match were Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson (THW) with seven goals and Gábor Császár (Veszprém) with five goals. Another match winner for Kiel was brilliant goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer.

Already before the break the THW defence stood like a wall, forcing the Veszprém strikers to take impossible shots or blocking them most of the time. The defending champions forged ahead to 5:2 and 8:4, but then Veszprém woke up, backed by their improving defence and equalized by four straight goals.

THW had not been shocked, but gave the 10.250 spectators, what they came for: goals, goals, goals. Thanks to their counter-attacks, created by a huge number of steals in defence, Kiel again forged ahead to a clear 14:9 lead, which nearly lasted until the break, when the distance was four goals.

Veszprém returned on the court with more passion and determination, reducing the gap to 18:16 and being close to turn the match around. But due to seven black minutes the Hungarians early gave the chance to win from their hands: As they could not get through the brilliantly organized THW defence anymore, they invited the defending champions to counter-attacks and easy goals. A double-strike of Gudjon Valur Sugurdsson (his goals six and seven) made the fans go crazy at 21:16, and Christian Zeitz and Niklas Ekberg even added two more strikes to march ahead to 22:16 in minute 39, forcing Veszprém coach Carlos Ortega to put the green card on the officials table.

But nothing changed: Veszprém still had enormous problems in attack, causing a huge number of “unforced errors” and turnovers – and Kiel said “thanks a lot”. A penalty shot by Niklas Ekberg extended the margin to nine goals for the first time at 26:17 – and Kiel was flying on the wings of success, as Veszprém goalkeeper Nándor Fazekas only saw the balls flying into the net.

Even when Ekberg had to leave the court with a bloody cut after being hit by a Veszprém elbow, the defending champions did not lose their rhythm. In contrast, the match ended in a disaster for the Group leader: ten minutes before the end Kiel double-figured the result at 28:18 for the first time– and the Hungarians, who were off the track completely, had scored only five goals in 20 minutes at this time. And the THW hunger had not been stilled still, as the fans were already standing on their seats, cheering for a 12 goal margin at 30:18.