Wanne’s last-second penalty hands Flensburg third place

SG Flensburg-Handewitt needed a draw in their final VELUX EHF Champions League Group Phase game to secure the coveted third spot in the group - and that is exactly what the German side got in the last second against HBC Nantes on Wednesday night: 29:29.

While Nantes did well to turn a five-goal deficit into a three-goal lead, the German hosts got the result they wanted thanks to a penalty from Hampus Wanne in the very last second.

• Nantes were still leading by three goals with only eight minutes left

• Flensburg finish third in the group, Nantes fourth

• Magnus Rød and Hampus Wanne both scored five goals for Flensburg, Valero Rivera also five for Nantes

GROUP B

SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs HBC Nantes (FRA) 29:29 (17:17)

A penalty from Hampus Wanne after the final buzzer secured Flensburg a draw and the third place in the group after both teams had dominated parts of Wednesday's match.

Could you ask for a more tense end to a #veluxehfcl match?
Watch what happened in the dying moments of @SGFleHa vs @HBCNantes tonight... with @hampuswanne having the last word pic.twitter.com/YqO0u3Ijzt

— EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) February 27, 2019

Valero Rivera benefited from a penalty to score the first goal of the match, but the next 15 minutes belonged completely to Flensburg. Through fast, yet patient attacking play, the home team got up 5:1, 8:3 and 11:6.

Slowly, however, Nantes tightened their defence and increased their efficiency in the attack. That was reflected in the score as the visitors were visibly catching up.

In the 42^nd minute, David Balaguer equalised for 13:13, and the teams were still in the balance at half-time (17:17).

But 50 seconds into the second half, Nantes went 18:17 in the lead thanks to Eduardo Gurbindo. He also extended the lead for the French visitors to three goals (26:23) with 10 minutes left.

But from 27:24 down, Flensburg had a 3:0 run to level the score again. And while Olivier Nyokas powered through the German defense to give Nantes a 29:28 lead in the last minute, Flensburg had the final laugh as Wanne kept his cool from seven metres with the final throw of the match.