Lomza Vive Kielce have kick-started their EHF Champions League Men campaign on Thursday.

The 2016 champions vastly improved from their opening-round defeat at Dinamo Bucuresti last week as they beat Telekom Veszprém HC 32:29 in an attractive Match of the Week.

It was only Kielce’s fourth win in 15 duels with Veszprém, who recovered from a slow start (12:5 down) but failed to close the gap entirely, despite Petar Nenadic netting nine times from 11 attempts.

GROUP B

MOTW: Lomza Vive Kielce (POL) vs Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) 32:29 (17:12)

• Thanks to a strong defence and boosted by the goals of Arkadiusz Moryto and Igor Karacic, Kielce quickly went ahead to 7:2 and 12:5.
• Kielce’s No. 1 goalkeeper Andreas Wolff was replaced by his back-up Mateusz Kornecki, who impressed with a 40% save rate before the break and 29% overall.
• A red card for Kielce defender Artsem Karalek after a foul against Petar Nenadic was the starting signal for a Veszprém comeback, but the Hungarian side were still five goals behind at the break.
• Kielce went 22:15 up by minute 37 but, like last week against PSG, Veszprém got closer and closer, backed by a strong Rodrigo Corrales between the posts.
• Not starting the match, Alex Dujshebaev netted only twice before the break but became the standout player with a phenomenal second half, deserving him the Player of the Match award.

Kornecki plays the Wolff role to perfection

You have to be patient when you are second goalkeeper behind super stars like Niklas Landin or Andreas Wolff. Mateusz Kornecki has been playing that role perfectly since he arrived at Kielce in 2019. When Wolff needs time for a break, the 27-year-old Polish international jumps in. Last week, Kornecki missed the season opener against Motor due to an injury and Wolff remained on court, despite his low safe rate of 13%. But in the MOTW against Veszprém, Kornecki started between the posts – and paid back coach Talant Dujshebaev with 11 saves as he played a dominant role in Kielce’s triumph.