Midtjylland through after impressive win over Györ

FC Midtjylland advanced to the Women’s EHF Champions League Main Round in style, with an outstanding performance against Györi Audi ETO KC which yielded an emphatic win home over the Hungarian giants.

•    FCM reach the main round after a 27:23 win over Györi Audi ETO KC
•    Stine Jörgensen shines for Midtjylland with eight goals; Sabine Englert racks up 15 saves
•    Györ, FCM and CSM Bucuresti are through to the second group stage, Rostov out

GROUP C
FC Midtjylland (DEN) vs Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN) 27:23 (15:10)

FC Midtjylland delighted their fans in Ikast with a memorable 27:23 home win over Györi Audi ETO KC, which propelled them into the EHF Champions League Main Round at the expense of Russian rivals Rostov-Don.

With Györ and CSM Bucuresti already through following the Romanian side’s 22:20 win at Rostov on Saturday, FCM needed to avoid defeat against the Hungarian giants to secure their passage with a match to spare.

The hosts lived up to the task with some aplomb, producing by far their best performance of the season.

“We've defeated an incredibly strong team, we're through to the next round and we will bring at least four points. The performance today was great and really showed what this team is made of,” said FCM's Louise Burgaard.

“No one expected us to go this far in this strong group, but we proved to ourselves and to the other teams that we were part of making this group so strong. We are a team to be reckoned with.”

Unstoppable Jörgensen torments the visitors

The Danish side, who have now recorded two wins, a draw and just one defeat in their last four meetings with Györ, snapped the Hungarian side’s four-game winning streak this season thanks to magnificent displays from their top performers.

Midtjylland raced to a 4:1 lead, which quickly soared to 7:2 then 11:4 on the back of a barrage of unstoppable shots from left back Stine Jörgensen, as well as a string of excellent saves from their German goalkeeper Sabine Englert.

Györ could not keep up with the home side’s high tempo in the opening half, though they got back into the match with a 4:0 run which briefly slashed the deficit to three goals (11:8).

However, FCM kept their composure and took a five-goal lead into the dressing room at half-time.  

FCM resilience repels Györ comeback   

Györ made a strong start to the second half as they got back to within touching distance, closing the gap to three goals several times with Dutch line player Yvette Broch cutting through the middle almost at will.

It still looked like Györ could turn the tide when Midtjylland were 24:21 ahead with seven minutes left on the clock, but two unanswered goals by the resilient home side sealed the contest.

With right back Nora Mörk subdued throughout the contest, the visitors lacked the firepower required for a result on one of the most difficult away courts in Europe.

Jörgensen finished as the game’s top scorer with eight goals from nine shots, while Veronica Kristiansen and Burgaard added five each to underline a fine attacking performance by the hosts.

Englert tallied 15 saves for the home side, leaving Broch (six goals) and playmaker Anita Görbicz (five) as the lone beacons of light for Györ.