With a masterful performance, SC Magdeburg overthrew the foxes Berlin from the top of the table and made the title race in the Handball Bundesliga even more exciting.
In the top game of the 22nd match day, the defending champion surprisingly won 34:29 (15:11) and thus lifted the non-playing Rhein-Neckar Löwen to first place.
The Mannheimers have the better goal difference when they are tied with the Berliners (both 37:7). With two games fewer than fourth in the table, Magdeburg has 33:7 points and thus also has the best chance of winning the championship.
“We laid the foundation for success in defence. It was phenomenal, fantastic. In the second half we played ourselves into a frenzy. The win could have been even bigger if we hadn’t started managing the game.” , said SCM trainer Bennet Wiegert on pay TV broadcaster Sky.
The winner’s top scorers were Kay Smits with ten goals and Gisli Kristjansson (8). Former Magdeburg player Robert Weber and Denmark’s world champion Mathias Gidsel each scored seven times for Berlin.
Siewert: “There wasn’t enough of us today”
“If you want to win in Magdeburg, you have to be 20 percent better than them. We weren’t,” said Foxes Managing Director Bob Hanning about the Berlin debacle in front of 6,600 spectators. And coach Jaron Siewert admitted: “Today it wasn’t enough of us for long stretches. Everything is in the deep red for me at the moment.”
The guests initially acted at eye level and were almost 9:8 ahead after 20 minutes. In the final phase of the first half, however, the capital club made too many technical mistakes and also repeatedly failed due to the strong SCM goalkeeper Nikola Portner. The Swiss saved eight throws in the first 30 minutes and thus played a large part in the four-goal cushion at the break.
After the change at 25:15 (44 th ) that increased to ten goals for the first time. Magdeburg now had the one-sided game completely under control and, despite some negligence, brought home the deserved victory safely.
