Handball Bundesliga
Foxes with a draw against Kiel – Magdeburg’s title is getting closer
In the top Bundesliga game against Kiel, the Füchse suffered a setback in the fight for the title. photo
© Marius Becker/dpa
The Füchse Berlin lost a clear lead against Kiel and lost the long-distance duel with Magdeburg. The championship title is becoming a long way off.
The Füchse Berlin handball players suffered a bitter setback in the fight for the German championship and were eliminated from their Bundesliga rivals Magdeburg paved the way to the title. A week after the sobering appearances in the DHB Cup, the capital club had to settle for a 32:32 (18:18) defeat against record champions THW Kiel. The best thrower was Berlin’s world handball player Mathias Gidsel with twelve goals.
Magdeburg won the top game against SG Flensburg-Handewitt on Friday and took the lead in the table. Both the Elbestädter and the Füchse have 50 plus points. However, the SCM has one less game in its account, fewer negative points and a clearly better goal record.
Berlin went on a furious 5-0 run. It wasn’t until the eighth minute that Hendrik Pekeler woke up the Kiel team with the first goal. The North Germans fought back and took the lead a minute before halftime. In their race to catch up, the guests also benefited from an early injury to Berlin playmaker Nils Lichtlein. Without the national player, the home team lacked security and dynamism in building up the game.
After the break, both teams fought a duel on equal terms. Eight minutes before the end of the game, the Foxes were able to pull ahead again with two goals after a long time (30:28) – also because goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev parried numerous Kiel throws. But the guests fought back again and also fended off Berlin’s last free throw.