Since the start of the season, Lemgo have been relying on their Swedish duo of goalkeeper Peter Johannesson and left-back Jonathan Carlsbogard to progress through to the group phase.

On Tuesday night the pair proved to be decisive again, as Johannesson added one scored goal to his 14 saves to keep Lemgo in the game through the hard times, while Carlsbogard netted seven times to lead the away team to its first win in this season’s group phase.

GROUP B

HBC Nantes (FRA) vs TBV Lemgo Lippe (GER) 27:28 (10:12)

• Mickael Robin kept Nantes in touch, with his saves ensuring the home side went in only two down at the break
• Lemgo had taken a five-goal advantage in the 20th minute
• The home side briefly took the lead at the start of the second half, but Lemgo’s Carlsbogard took things in hand, to stretch the lead back out to five
• Emil Nielsen made three crucial saves late on in the match in his comeback for Nantes following an ankle injury, but they were not enough
• Both teams are now level in the group, third, with two points each

Visitors’ Johannesson wins goalkeeping battle

In the first half, the Swedish goalkeeper of Lemgo might have been more efficient than Nantes’ Mickael Robin, but the home side player made a bigger impression as he prevented his team from drowning in a sea of Lemgo goals.

However, in the second half, Lemgo could rely on their defence and their goalkeeper to break away on the scoreboard, as the Swede piled up 14 saves at a 35% efficiency rate and even got on the scoresheet himself, with a goal down the other end.