Flensburg and Porto were separated by only one point before tonight’s game, and the match was even tighter with neither side able to claim victory.
While the hosts, helped by an impressive Jim Gottfridsson, did take a three-goal advantage in the first half, they were not able to maintain their momentum. Then in what became an undecided second half, neither team were able to finish in the lead.
GROUP B :
SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs FC Porto (POR) 26:26 (14:13)
- after being led by two early in the game, Flensburg turned things around and went on a 5:0 run that put them three goals ahead after 15 minutes
- the rest of the game featured both teams trading goals with no-one taking a bigger advantage than two goals
- both teams had the opportunity to win the game in its dying seconds, but while Porto turned the ball over, Nikola Mitrevski stopped Mads Mensah Larsen’s last shot
- Teitur Einarsson finished leading scorer for the game, netting eight for Flensburg
- Flensburg remain one point ahead of Porto in the standings
Teitur Einarsson, eight goals in 35 minutes
He may have landed in Flensburg in October, but Teitur Einarsson took no time to adapt to his new environment. The Icelandic left-hander delivered his best EHF Champions League performance, scoring eight.
But even more impressive is that he did it within 35 minutes. He probably would have been the hero for his team had his last shot not hit the crossbar, but all in all, his performance probably helped Flensburg avoid a home defeat.
It was a very open match for 60 minutes and was very close the whole time. We had a very good attack at the beginning of the match and in a lot of one-on-one situations we scored. In the second half of the match, we were fighting but it was hard to manage the match in the final period. We had the chance to score the final goal, but we did not manage it.
