The Füchse Berlin won the intense duel against neighbors THW Kiel and are staying at the top of the table. Füchse keeper Dejan Milosavljev excelled with 17 saves, Tim Freihöfer scored ten times for the home team. For Kiel, Elias Ellefsen á Skipagotumit was the best thrower with 12 goals.
Reigning German champions against cup winners. Fourth in the table against third in the table. Füchse Berlin against THW Kiel. The top game on matchday 12 in the Handball Bundesliga kept what it promised: top players
Already in the first minutes of the game it became clear how intense and competitive the game would be. The first five minutes of the game were at eye level. The goalkeepers in particular gave an idea of how important they would be in this game. Both Andreas Wolff and Dejan Milosavljev in the home team’s goal made early saves.
After seven minutes, Berlin increased the pressure and, led by world handball player Mathias Gidsel, took a 4-2 lead. On the other hand, the Kiel team repeatedly created good chances to score through passes to the circle, but Berlin’s goalkeeper made excellent saves and parried one throw after the other, even being able to catch a throw from Eric Johansson. After just under a quarter of an hour he had a rate of 50 percent saved balls. The Kiel team had difficulty reducing the distance.
Milosavljev parries strongly
Kiel’s coach Filip Jicha called the timeout, but had difficulty getting through. He literally roared at his team against the loud Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin. The interruption did not affect the flow of the game in Berlin. The hosts let the ball run, spread the game wide and scored goals much more easily than the guests.
Kiel’s Veron Nacinovic came free at the circle to throw, but Milosavljev secured the ball and directly initiated the counterattack, with which Mathias Gidsel extended Berlin’s lead to 14:8 after 22 minutes. Dejan Milosavljev was without question the man of the first half. Shouts of “Milo, Milo” echoed through the Berlin hall.
The goalkeeper change at THW ensured Kiel’s comeback. Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, who has only recently returned to action after a cruciate ligament injury, stopped the home team’s flow with a few important saves. The THW fought back and reduced the score to 16:14 at halftime.
Skipagotu turns up the heat
After the break, Milosavlej continued where he left off and laid the foundation for the Berliners to pull away again. With a goal from his own possession, Freihöfer took the lead to 18:14.
They had Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu to thank for the fact that Kiel couldn’t be shaken off. The Faringer tried to put his stamp on the Kiel game. In seven against six, the middle man repeatedly moved to the circle and converted one ball after the other. The Faringer had nine goals to his name after 45 minutes. Little by little, THW fought its way back.
Exciting final phase
Ten minutes before the final whistle the game was completely open again: an open exchange of blows between the two top teams. Skipagotu equalized 27:27 seven minutes before the end of the game. The Foxes countered. With the score at 30:29 and 1 minute and 20 seconds left, Milosavljev interrupted the back-and-forth with a sensational save. The Serb was able to make a total of 17 saves in this top game. The goals from Freihöfer and Mathias Gidsel sealed the deal and gave the Füchsen a 32:29 victory.
“We only got through the spectators today. When we had a difficult phase, the hall gave us energy again,” said Mathias Gidsel, explaining the success after the game in the Sportschau. With the victory, the Füchse Berlin move past the Kiel team in the table and take third place. With 18:6 points they keep up with SC Magdburg with 19:1 and SG-Flensburg-Handewitt with 20:2 points.