CSM Bucuresti missed Cristina Neagu in the DELO EHF Champions League Match of the Week against Vipers Kristiansand on Saturday evening, as the instrumental left back returned a positive Covid-19 test earlier in the week and missed the clash.

CSM could not compensate for the absence, as Vipers took an early lead and never looked back, making it three victories out of three games so far with a comfortable 30:25 result against the Romanian side.

GROUP A
MOTW: Vipers Kristiansand (NOR) vs CSM Bucuresti (ROU) 30:25 (14:12)

• Vipers recorded their best start in the DELO EHF Champions League, winning the first three games in a row for the first time ever
• missing captain Heidi Løke, right wing Malin Aune and left wing Karoline Olsen, Vipers relied on their back line, which scored 17 of their 30 goals
• former CSM right back Nora Mørk enjoyed a good game, putting four goals past the Bucharest goalkeepers
• Vipers’ line player Hanna Maria Yttereng, who scored five goals from five shots, was the Player of the Match of the Week presented by DELO
• Vipers lead the group with six points from three games, and leapfrog CSM and Metz who are on four points, with this result

Neagu’s absence exposes CSM’s weakness

CSM do look like a one-trick pony without Cristina Neagu. The superstar left back missed the game due to a positive Covid-19 test and the Romanian side had no answer on that position. Gabriela Perianu, Elisabeth Omoregie and Bianca Bazaliu constantly switched on the left back, but only combined for three goals – at least seven less than Neagu’s tally in each of the first two games.