VfL Gummersbach kept the upper hand against bottom team SC DHfK Leipzig and remains on course for the European Cup.
The Gummersbachers, who are still unbeaten at home in the Bundesliga, celebrated a 34:27 (19:12) win on Saturday and moved up to third place in the table with 19:7 points, at least for the time being. The best throwers of the game were Kay Smits and Julian Köster for Gummersbach with seven goals each, while Lucas Krzikalla also scored seven for Leipzig.
For Leipzig it was the first game under new coach Frank Carstens. The club parted ways with head coach Raul Alonso and sports director Bastian Roscheck on Wednesday. Leipzig, still without a win, is still at the bottom of the table with two points.
Gummersbach goes on a 9-0 run
In a high-tempo opening phase, Leipzig got off to a good start and led 4-2 after a goal from Matej Klima (8th minute). This was followed by a 6-0 run by Gummersbach with goals from Mathis Häseler, Julian Köster (3), Kay Smits and Ole Pregel. When the score was 8:4 for VfL (12th), Leipzig’s coach Carstens took the first time out.
But even after the time out, the guests were initially unable to stabilize. Gummersbach kept the pace high and extended their lead to 11:4, before Leipzig was able to reduce it to 11:5 after almost ten minutes without a goal of their own through William Bogojevic (18th). Leipzig was then able to make the game more balanced. Nevertheless, VfL took a comfortable lead into the half-time break: Teitur Örn Einarsson (30th) scored seconds before the half-time siren to make it 19:12.
“The first half can be divided into three parts: The start was good, then it was a disaster, and then we were equal,” said Leipzig managing director Karsten Günter at the microphone on “DYN”, summing up the guests’ performance in the first half.
Gummersbach loses the lead
After the break, the hosts managed their lead and initially kept Leipzig at bay. But Leipzig worked its way back into the game. Staffan Peter (42nd) brought the guests within five goals (23:18), in the 50th minute the VfL lead was reduced to two goals (26:24) after a goal from Tomas Piroch. Köster responded with the throw to make it 27:24 before Gummersbach took a timeout.
Led by the strong Köster, Gummersbach became more accurate again in the final phase. Kentin Mahé (55th) scored to make it 30:26, Kay Smits (56th) increased the score to 31:26 with a seven-meter penalty. Leipzig now lacked the strength to resist again. Leipzig’s Ahmed Moustafa Khairi Nasralla (59th) was shown a red card shortly before the end of the game.
Gummersbach now has to go to Flensburg
For VfL, the Bundesliga continues with an away game: On Saturday (November 29th) the Oberbergische will play against SG Flensburg-Handewitt. The game starts at 8 p.m.
Our sources:
- Handball game VfL Gummersbach against SC DHfK Leipzig on November 22nd, 2025 (live broadcast on Dyn)
