Handball Bundesliga
68 goals: No winner between Kiel and Magdeburg
THW Kiel (white jerseys) shared the points with SC Magdeburg. photo
© Frank Molter/dpa
In the duel between two title contenders, Kiel and Magdeburg separate the points. The THW takes the lead again for the time being, but the top moves even closer together.
No winner in the top game of the Handball Bundesliga: Record champion THW Kiel and defending champion SC Magdeburg broke up 34:34 (18:21).
Thanks to the draw, the North Germans took over the lead again in front of Füchsen Berlin (both 41:9) due to the better goal difference.
Magdeburg is third with 41:11 points, followed by SG Flensburg-Handewitt (39:11). In contrast, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen have finally said goodbye to the title race with their fourth defeat in a row. The Mannheimers conceded a bitter 37:42 home defeat against VfL Gummersbach and now have 37:15 points, six more minus points than the top duo.
Kiel and Magdeburg are struggling with the loss of points
After the dramatic top duel, both sides were not satisfied. “We lost a point today. I had the feeling that we were the better team and can’t live so well with the point division. We have to take more with us here,” SCM coach Bennet Wiegert quarreled with the outcome of the Sky microphone lot.
The Kielers couldn’t be happy about the draw either. “We have to win our home games, leaving too many points at home. That sucks for us right now,” said THW circle runner Patrick Wiencek. The best throwers were Niclas Ekberg with nine goals for Kiel and Kay Smits with ten goals for Magdeburg.
SCM does not use last ball possession to win
The top game in front of 10,285 spectators in the sold-out Kiel Arena started with a lot of speed. The SCM advanced to 3:1 in the fourth minute with three goals from the strong Icelander Gisli Kristjansson. Smits made it 6: 4 (8th) after a double Kempa trick. In the 23rd minute the guests led by four goals at 17:13 for the first time.
The THW found it difficult. The support from the goalkeeper position was initially missing. That changed at the start of the second half. Denmark’s world champion keeper Niklas Landin parried three balls and thus laid the foundation for the first lead of the game at 22:21 in the 35th minute.
Magdeburg countered to 32:29 (52nd) and thus heralded the exciting and hectic final phase. In the final minute, the referees whistled for a foul against Kiel’s Sander Sagosen. However, Magdeburg could not use the last ball possession to win.