Rostov-Don ended 2021 with their fourth win in the last five games, cruising to an easy win against a hapless HC Podravka Vegeta, 34:23, jumping to the first place in the standings, tying FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria.

This was Rostov’s biggest win of the season, as the Russian side overwhelmed an undermanned Podravka side, who missed five players.

GROUP A

Rostov-Don (RUS) vs HC Podravka Vegeta (CRO) 34:23 (18:12)

• the Russian side prevented Podravka from scoring in the first five minutes and built a 9:5 lead after 15 minutes
• with five players out due to injury, including top scorer Dejana Milosavljevic, who has 33 goals this season, Podravka’s attack could not top a 50% attacking efficiency
• a week removed from her best performance in the DELO EHF Champions League, Podravka’s Romanian left-back, Bianca Bazaliu was again her team’s top scorer, with six goals
• with eight goals, Grace Zaadi was Rostov’s top scorer, her best performance in the DELO EHF Champions League since scoring 10 times against Vipers in April 2021. Fellow centre back Yaroslava Frolova added seven goals, her best outing to date in the competition
• the Croatian side lost its seventh game in a row, but are far from their worst-ever streak in the European premium competition, which was14 consecutive defeats between October 2020 and February 2021

Rostov jump to the first place

Losing the last 17 away games in the DELO EHF Champions League and winning only twice in the past 16 games are not results that Podravka will be happy with. But the Croatian side’s form in the European premium competition has been poor for some time and progressing to the next phase looks unlikely. The Croatian champions are now on a seven-game losing streak this season and are five points behind sixth place, with only six games to go.

On the other side, Rostov did not impress, but they are still challenging for one of the top two places. Their form has picked up in the past few games, winning four out of the last five and their defence is still carrying the load. This win, combined with FTC’s first loss of the season, propelled them to first place in the standings at the end of 2021.