The foxes’ invincible series continues!
The Berliners remain undefeated this season and win the Liqui Moly top game Handball Bundesliga against the direct pursuer MT Melsungen with 37:31, extending the lead in the table to ten wins and 20:0 points!
It has only happened ten times in 57 years that a team has survived the first ten games of the season without losing a point. VfL Gummersbach (67/68), FrischAuf Göppingen (69/70), TBV Lemgo (02/03), THW Kiel (11/12) and SC Magdeburg (21/22) each made it ahead of the Füchsen once, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen (12/13, 15/16) and the SG Flensburg-Handewitt (16/17, 18/19) even twice.
Berlin’s Lasse Andersson (eleven goals) after the game at Dyn: “We won, but there are still points we can improve on.”
The top game is overshadowed by a serious injury!
The shocking moment in the 18th minute: Melsunger David Mandic wants to block Mathias Gidsel, but falls backwards. He seems to twist his ankle or twist his leg unhappily. To make matters worse, Gidsel also lands on his opponent’s ankle.
Mandic is lying on the ground, screaming, holding his hands in front of his face. Immediately it becomes completely quiet in the hall. The Berlin spectators immediately recognized that it was a serious injury. Dyn expert and ex-professional Andy Schmid (twelve years with the Rhein-Neckar Löwen): “He ended up in the wrong place.”
Füchse board member Stefan Kretzschmar, who sits 19th in row 1 in Block K, is also shocked by the scene.
Handball legend Stefan Kretzschmar is a board member at Füchse Berlin
Supervisors immediately rush onto the floor. The Berlin team doctor Jürgen Bentzin is also there to help.
Hall spokesman Michael Bernatek then asks the fans to clap for the injured Melsunger. It immediately gets loud in the hall again! Melsungen professional Martinovic and a supervisor support the Croatian and carry him off the parquet together.
Mandic is treated in the dressing room, but comes back into the hall in the final phase of the first half and sits on the bench with an ice pack on his foot.
From the start, the Foxes are chasing a deficit (2:4/7th and 8:10/16th). It wasn’t until the 22nd minute that the Berliners took the lead for the first time with 13:12. The score goes into the break at 17:15, also because Martinovic only hits the post with Melsunger’s last throw.
Melsungen keeper Simic was extremely self-critical of Dyn at the break: “Milosavljev holds a few balls — and I hold nothing! That makes the difference in the first half. We have to play better in defense. Gidsel does what he wants! My goalkeeping performance has to be better!”
Highlights Magdeburg – Hanover Tension until the final whistle
Crazy goal in the 31st minute: Lindberg lobs over the Melsung goalkeeper with his seven-meter penalty to make it 18:15. What a cheeky thing!
Berlin got off to a strong start, scoring 22:17 (34th). But after a time out, the guests came back dangerously close with a 3-0 run. In the 41st minute the score is only 23:22. Alarm time-out for the foxes! Coach Siewert takes his players to task: “It’s not possible for us to throw the balls away like that!”
Are the Berliners running out of breath in front of 9,000 spectators in the sold-out Max Schmeling Hall? Less than 48 hours before this top game, the Foxes, who were already badly staffed, played against Chambéry in the European League (24:22).
Now the top game will be a real thriller! Melsungen cannot be shaken off and always remains one goal behind.
Seven minutes before the end, the Melsung team surprisingly take their final time out – to get the most out of the double majority!
In the stands, Füchse managing director Bob Hanning and Kretzsche jump up for joy – youngster Nils Lichtlein’s 33:30 is the preliminary decision (56th)!
Melsungen’s Timo Kastening after the game at Dyn: “Berlin absolutely deserved to win. The entire team plays at an absolutely top level. Whenever it was our turn, we failed a little because of ourselves. We didn’t get enough access in defense. If the players who make the difference in the game screw up in quotes, then you don’t have a chance either.”
He says to the injured Mandic: “He was pretty upset. I have no idea what he has. Ankle? Metatarsal? We have to wait.”
Analysis by Berlin’s Hans Lindberg: “A tough game, balanced for a long time. Melsungen has a very, very strong team. There is always room for improvement. We wouldn’t have thought before the season that we would be invincible. But we’re happy to take that with us.”