Montpellier top Group D after dominant win

Montpellier ousted Motor Zaporozhye in the only group D encounter on Sunday in a convincing display.

Montpellier win their seventh consecutive game in all competitions to top Group D
Motor Zaporozhye have not beaten Montpellier in three head-to-head matches
Montpellier were 10-1 in fast break goals – the main deciding factor together with Motor making more than twice as much turnovers as the hosts

GROUP D

Montpellier HB (FRA) vs Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) 28:20 (18:13)

Handball fans are used to close battles between these two sides, however Montpellier seem to be in great form at the beginning of the season. The French powerhouses ousted the Ukrainian champions 28:20, recording a third straight group win to top Group D.

Motor could keep up with the in-form Montpellier only for the opening five minutes. Montpellier then quickly built a four-goal lead with four consecutive goals. Motor coach Patryk Rombel reacted with a time out, but Montpellier were on fire, punishing every turnover with deadly effective counter attack goals.

Rombel had to react again in the 19th minute as Aymen Toumi made it 13:6 with another fast counter-attacking goal. Motor players lost the ball too many times in the attack, offering easy fast break opportunities for Montpellier.

French chemistry

The home back court worked effectively, their wings were always a threat and Vincent Gerard pulled out a save or two whenever the team needed it. Montpellier coach Patrice Canayer has built good chemistry in the squad early in the season.

The only time Montpellier came off the attack was in the second half when they had to wait for their 22nd goal from the 36th until the 41st minute.

Although their shot efficiency was not as high on the French side, Montpellier produced twice as much shots as Motor.

Right backs Valentin Porte for the home side and Pawel Paczkowski for Motor were the best scorers of the game with six goals each.

Good but improvement required

Montpellier coach Canayer said his men still had things they needed to work on.

"I liked our commitment and activity in defence, and our build-up play was interesting, enabling us to find some good shooting positions," he said. "The negative point tonight is our efficiency in shooting, some players disappointed me in this aspect. Tonight this had no influence on the result, but in another context it could be a problem."