AUDIO: THW Kiel scores against Bundesliga leaders Magdeburg (1 min)
As of: December 23, 2025 8:53 p.m
The handball players from THW Kiel won 26:26 (13:13) in the last away game of the year against Bundesliga leader SC Magdeburg on Tuesday evening. Hendrik Pekeler scored two seconds before the end to secure a celebrated draw.
What a finish! In a top game that lived up to its name and was back and forth for the entire 60 minutes, the “Zebras” had the last word in the end. The hosts, who have now been unbeaten in 51 competitive games, have to accept their first loss of points in front of their home crowd this season. Nevertheless, after the draw, the THW still has eight more minus points than the SCM, which is heading towards the championship title with 34:2 points.
The best throwers of the game were Lukas Zerbe and Harald Reinkind with seven goals each for the THW and Gisli Kiristjansson and Lukas Mertens with six goals each for the SCM.
“Zebras” without Ellefsen á Skipagøtu
The Kiel team had to make do with the current Champions League winners without their regular playmaker Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu. The Faroese suffered a shoulder injury in the northern derby against TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (29:29) on Saturday. The Austrian Nikola Bilyk directed the guests for him.
The sports club started powerfully and led 3-1 after six minutes, but the THW couldn’t be shaken off. The Kiel defense did not allow any further goals in the following minutes, Harald Reinkind managed to equalize 3-3 in the tenth minute. The “Zebras” were able to keep the draw, which was also due to important saves from Andreas Wolff in goal. The visitors’ goalkeeper saved the seven-meter shots from Ómar Ingi Magnússon and Tim Hornke and played a strong first half.
Goalkeepers keep the game close
Reinkind took the first lead of the evening for THW from the backcourt in the 18th minute (8:7). But neither team managed to break away in the following minutes. SCM keeper Sergey Hernandez was in no way inferior to the performance of his counterpart Wolff and kept the game close. The 13:13 at the break was fair. Hornke’s 1,500th Bundesliga goal in the first half was notable and appropriately celebrated by the home team.
THW falls into a hole
The North Germans came out of the locker room poisonously and took the lead with two goals thanks to goals from Reinhold and Lukas Zerbe. After that, however, the Schleswig-Holsteiners fell into a hole. Within 90 seconds, a double strike from Daniel Pettersson equalized again for the Saxony-Anhalt team (15:15, 34th). Kiel remained without a goal for five minutes and Magdeburg’s Thorgeir Kristjansson scored in the 38th minute to give the Bundesliga leaders an 18:15 lead.
Kiel turns up the heat in the final minutes
After Magnus Saugstrup increased the lead to four goals for the hosts, coach Filip Jicha’s team managed a three-goal run that brought the THW back to 19:20. In addition, the extremely strong Wolff drove the hosts to despair, especially from the point. The 34-year-old was able to save a total of four seven-meter penalties – and offensively things also worked better for Kiel in the final phase, who took the lead again through Reinkind five minutes before the end (24:23).
But the “Zebras” weakened themselves with a two-minute penalty for Veron Načinović. The SCM was able to use the majority and made it 26:25 in the final minute through Gisli Kristjánsson. The guests had the last word in the game: Pekeler equalized two seconds before the end and saved the North Germans a point.
