Five times in five EHF Champions League matches, THW Kiel beat Pick Szeged on home court. On Wednesday night, the Hungarian side struck back with a strong comeback and a 32:32 draw. Mario Sostaric scored the last two goals for the visitors, who were behind by seven goals at one stage. Top THW scorers were Hendrik Pekeler with eight goals and Nikola Bilyk with seven. THW remain second on now seven points, one ahead of Szeged. 

GROUP A: 

THW Kiel (GER) vs Pick Szeged (HUN) 32:32 (17:14) 

• Szeged had their strongest period of the first half between the 6 and 15 minutes, when they pulled ahead from 4:4 to 10:5. 
• Backed by Nikola Bilyk, THW's strong backcourt shooter, they took the lead again at 14:13 and extended the gap to three goals at the break.  
• Thanks to brilliant intermezzo of 2020 EHF FINAL4 MVP Hendrik Pekeler, Kiel forged ahead to 25:18 in the 41st minute. 
• Szeged showed incredible moral, while Kiel missed too many chances in the final stages, scoring their last goal in the 56th minute making it 32:29. 
• Bence Banhidi and twice Mario Sostaric scored Szeged’s last goals, while Harald Reinkind missing Kiel’s last shot with the final buzzer. 
• Kiel’s back court players Sander Sagosen and Steffen Weinhold are currently ruled out by a COVID infection - though they are fully vaccinated. 

What a final stage of Mario Sostaric! 

Until the 50th minute, Mario Sostaric had scored only one goal, but then Pick’s Slovenian started his engines in express mode: the right wing netted for the 19:17 in the 32nd minute, two more goals followed, and then Sostaric became Pick’s hero levelling the result with Szeged’s last two goals. The Slovenian international has scored in ever group match so far, today’s five strikes are the second-best outcome after seven in the 30:21 win against Zagreb.