After drawing in Portugal in round 6 (32:32), Kielce and Porto met again tonight in Poland with the teams in contrasting form.

Talant Dujshebaev’s Kielce had not lost since round 1 prior to today’s clash and started in second place in group A, two points behind leaders Flensburg, while Porto beat Vardar last week (27:24), their first win in five games, and were under pressure not to let Szeged and Elverum threaten their current fifth position in the group.

GROUP A

Lomza Vive Kielce (POL) vs FC Porto (POR) 32:30 (19:14)

• Already leading by six after 10 minutes, Kielce had the upper hand in the first half thanks to an offensive and efficient defence, leading by eight at one point and going into the break five ahead (19:14)
• Porto came back within one in the second half, thanks to Antonio Areia’s fast-breaks and nearly split the points
• However, Kielce goalkeeper Mateusz Kornecki saved two points for his team with a crucial save 25 seconds before the end which would have made it 31:31
• Alex Dujshebaev scored 10 goals for Kielce while two players netted six times for Porto: Victor Iturriza and Rui Silva
• Kielce are now tied leader of the group with Flensburg, both teams with 15 points

For Kielce, defence was everything

Talant Dujshebaev decided to surprise his Magnus Andersson and his FC Porto side right from the off, as his Kielce side adopted a very aggressive defence, with Alex Dujshebaev being as high as the middle court line at time to upset the offenders from Portugal.

And it worked, as Porto completely lost their handball way and when the Portuguese side decided to use its seven against six tactics, Kielce’s defenders remained in the same aggressive mood.

Eventually, Porto managed to find solutions in the second half, but fell just short in the dying seconds of the game when Fabio Magalhaes passed to a free Daymaro Salina, but the big line player saw his shot expertly saved by Mateusz Kornecki.