While the Match of the Week Kiel versus Barça was one EHF Champions League Men classic on Thursday evening, HC Vardar and Lomza Vive Kielce played another.

The teams have met 10 times since 2015, with the Polish side winning on six occasions and Vardar taking another three – and Kielce’s last win on Vardar’s court was in the very first meeting five years ago.  

Prior to round 7, Kielce were the leaders of the group with nine points across six games played while Vardar were in sixth place with three points taken in three games. With the victory, Kielce move to 11 points and stand alone in first.

GROUP A
HC Vardar 1961 (MKD) vs Vive Lomza Kielce (POL) 29:33 (13:16)

• Vardar had their foot on the pedal right from the start, quickly taking a four-goal advantage. But thanks to Andreas Wolff’s stellar performance (10 saves in the first half), Kielce turned things around to lead by three at the break
• Vardar made the score even at the 43rd minute and even took the lead for a short time, before Alex Dujshebaev and Wolff took charge for the visitors
• Kielce’s Alex Dujshebaev was the game’s top scorer with 10 goals, while Lovro Jotic netted six times for Vardar
• tonight was Kielce’s first win in Skopje against Vardar since April 2015
• thanks to this win, Kielce increase their table lead to two points ahead of Flensburg

Alex Dujshebaev: King of the second half

When the going gets tough, leaders take the ball in their hands and the pressure on their shoulders. And that is exactly what Alex Dujshebaev did.

When Vardar took the lead in the heart of the second half, Dujshebaev did it all himself: three straight goals and two assists on five consecutive plays left the North Macedonian side’s defence with no answer and paved the way to success for Kielce.