Sporting take last-gasp MOTW victory; Füchse, GOG also win

• Sporting went back to winning ways after their defeats against Aalborg Håndbold and HBC Nantes with an impressive performance against Veszprém in a spectacular MOTW
• two players ended on a double-digit figure in the MOTW, as Orri Þorkelsson scored 10 for Sporting, and Ahmed Hesham 12 for Veszpém
• Francisco 'Kiko' Costa was named Player of the Match after the MOTW, after scoring nine times
• with strong performances from Tobias Grøndahl and Mathias Gidsel, scoring nine and eight times, respectively, Füchse dominated against Kolstad
• the German side is one of the two teams in the competition with the maximum of 10 points after five rounds — alongside defending champions SC Magdeburg in group B
• on the back of an impressive first half, which saw them lead by eight, GOG took the two points in Zagreb

GROUP A

MOTW: Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) vs One Veszprém HC (HUN) 33:32 (18:18)

H2H: 2-0-3
Top scorers: Orri Þorkelsson 10/13 (Sporting Clube de Portugal); Ahmed Hesham 12/13 (One Veszprém HC)

The first half was a game of catch and chase between the two sides. While the hosts took the best start and an early five-goal lead, their opponents were quick to react. With Nédim Rémili at the wheel, Veszprém came back within one, before letting Sporting go again. The real game-changer for the Hungarian side was the arrival of Mikael Appelgren between the posts. The Swedish goalkeeper made some crucial saves and allowed his team to take the lead for the first time at the 19th minute. From then on, no team really took the upper hand and at the break, the score was perfectly even at 18:18.

Ahmed Hesham took things into his head in the second half, scoring four within 13 minutes to put Veszprém up by three halfway through. While Sporting were struggling to score, the Hungarian side were playing quickly to outrun their opponents. But their tactics did not last long enough to lead them to the victory. The arrival of Mohamed Aly between Sporting’s posts made the momentum change side again, and 10 minutes before the end of the game, everything still had to be decided. In the last minute, after Ahmed Hesham had levelled the score once again, Martim Costa scored the game winner for Sporting in the closing seconds, taking off his shirt in celebration and offering his team a hard-fought victory in front of their fans after the club's two defeats in the last two rounds.

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs Kolstad Håndball (NOR) 38:27 (19:14)

H2H: 1-0-0
Top scorers: Tobias Grøndahl 9/9 (Füchse Berlin); Simon Jeppsson 7/10 (Kolstad Håndball)

It took exactly 12 minutes for Berlin to put their grip on the game. Before that, Kolstad had displayed a fierce resistance, thanks to Simen Lyse and Sigvaldi Gudjonsson. But when Füchse put their foot to the pedal, the visitors struggled to react. Tobias Grøndahl and Mathias Gidsel scored five each in the first half to give their team a maximum advantage of six goals. Berlin’s goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev was also on fine form, making seven saves in the first 30 minutes and leading the hosts to a five-goal lead at the break.

Never was the Norwegian side able to make up for such a deficit. Despite Simon Jeppsson delivering a great performance and scoring seven, Berlin remained tightly in control of the game. Lasse Andersson and Tobias Grøndahl provided much of the scoring for the hosts and put them away from danger minutes before the final siren.

GROUP B

HC Zagreb (CRO) vs GOG (DEN) 31:36 (11:19)

H2H: 1-1-3
Top scorers: Luka Lovre Klarica 6/9, Giorgi Tskhovrebadze 6/8 (HC Zagreb); Frederik Bjerre 8/8, Lasse Vilhelmsen 8/8 (GOG)

15 minutes into the game, and the situation looked quite desperate for Zagreb already. The Croatian side had only netted twice and conceded eight goals. Peter Johannesson, the goalkeeper of GOG, had already made eight saves at that point for a surreal 80 per cent efficiency. Despite two timeouts taken, the first half was a nightmare for Zagreb: the visitors took a maximum advantage of eight goals at various points, powered by the seven goals from Lasse Vilhelmsen and helped by a direct red card for Adin Faljic.

Shortly after coming back on the court, Zagreb came back within five, thanks to a more aggressive defence. But the hosts did not keep the momentum for long. With Óli Mittún picking up offensive duties, GOG broke away again, never letting Zagreb coming back into reach again, and securing their first away points of the season.

main image © João Pedro Morais / Sporting Clube de Portugal