All favorites recorded wins in this evening’s Champions League Group B matches. Still, none of them had an easy task.
Marseille continued its winning streak, with a victory over Crvena Zvezda. The French were three goals down at halftime, but they came back and recorded an 11:8 win.
Two matches played in Germany were very exciting. OSC earned a 12:11 win over Spandau with a goal scored in dying seconds. Hannover edged out Steaua 13:12.
Pro Recco defeated Jug with a technical score (10:0). Jug didn’t come to Italy, because of numerous coronavirus cases at the club.
So, nothing changed atop the table. Pro Recco leads the race with 21 points. Marseille collected 21 points, too, but the French are in 2nd place because they lost to Pro Recco on Day 1. Jug is in 3rd place, but only two points separate the Croats and the 4th-placed OSC. Hannover, which has 11 points, is still among the contenders for spots at the F8.
2021/22 Champions League, Group B, Day 8
Spandau 04 – OSC Budapest 11:12 (4:3, 1:2, 3:2, 3:5)
Spandau 04: Kholod 3, Strelezkij 2, Stamm 2, Cuk 1, Tkac 1, Dedovic 1, Pericas 1.
OSC Budapest: Salamon 3, Csacsovszky 3, Burian 3, Manhercz 2, Vin. Vigvari 1,
Spandau won the unplanned three points against OSC in Budapest two weeks ago. The Germans arrived in Hungary without a few players infected by Covid. But, the situation regarding the coronavirus at OSC was even worse. The Hungarians didn’t have enough healthy players. So, Spandau won that game 10:0.
Today, both teams were complete. The Berliners controlled the match for most of the time. They had a 2-goal advantage midway through the fourth quarter, but OSC earned the three points with a last-gasp goal.
After the first quarter, the hosts had a 4:3 lead, while Pericas doubled Spandau’s advantage in the 11th minute (5:3). OSC leveled at 5:5 three minutes before the middle break, but Spandau got off to an excellent start in the second half. They netted three goals in a row (Kholod and Stamm 2) to jump to an 8:5 lead (20th minute).
In the following several minutes, OSC Budapest managed to cut the deficit to one goal (7:8, 8:9, 9:10). In the 28th minute, Kholod scored from an extra player for 11:9. It turned out that it was Spandau’s last goal in the match. OSC leveled in the 30th minute after Ferenc Salamon scored a nice action goal from a distance for 11:11. Both teams missed a few chances with a man-up in the next two minutes. Twenty seconds from the end, Spandau missed the last chance to secure a win. OSC’s goalie Marton Levai saved a shot from Kholod, who committed a personal foul shortly after, and OSC earned a man-up. The Hungarians didn’t waste time. Levai passed the ball to Burian, who found some free space in front of the hosts’ goal, and made no mistake – he scored a winner seven seconds before the buzzer.
Crvena Zvezda – Marseille 8:11 (3:1, 4:3, 0:4, 1:3)
Crvena Zvezda:Basara 3, M.Vukicevic 2, M.Radovic 1, Milojevic, Pjesivac 1.
Marseille: A.Vukicevic 5, Vernoux 2, Cuckovic 1, Bouet 1, Marion Vernoux 1, Bodegas 1.
Crvena Zvezda and Marseille met for the first time this season. Marseille won the match of the 7th round without jumping into the water. Crvena Zvezda didn’t come to Marseille because of travel problems related to the coronavirus situation.
In the first eight minutes, Crvena Zvezda stunned Marseille, which played without two aces – Ugo Crousillat and Andrija Prlainovic. Crousillat didn’t arrive in Belgrade. Prlainovic came, but he was out of the team. The hosts outplayed the French in the first eight minutes. Playing very well in defense and attack they earned a 3:0 lead. Marseille got on the scoreboard only 18 seconds before the first break – Ante Vukicevic scored an action goal. The visitors equalized at 3:3 in the 11th minute. Still, Crvena Zvezda re-built a 3-goal lead quickly – 6:3. At halftime, it stood 7:4.
But, Crvena Zvezda, which played an exhausting Regional League tournament last weekend, ran out of energy for the second half. Marseille took control. In the 22nd minute, the French champion leveled at 7:7. A minute after, the hosts made a mistake in an attack and let Marseille start a counter-attack. The French earned a penalty shot, which Vukicevic converted to an 8:7 lead.
The visitors, led by Ante Vukicevic, found their rhythm. After four unanswered goals in the third period, they added three in the fourth quarter and went to 11:7 (30th minute). Crvena Zvezda’s captain Milos Vukicevic scored a consolation goal a minute and a half before the end.
Hannover – Steaua 13:12 (5:2, 2:2, 3:5, 3:3)
Waspo 98 Hannover: Da. Brguljan 4, Radovic 3, Nagaev 3, Macan 1, Muslim 1, Schutze1.
Steaua Bucharest: Goanta 2, Negrean 2, Neamtu 2, Fulea 2, Negrean 2, Ghiban 1, Iudean 1.
Waspo Hannover coach Seehafer had all players available for the match, but almost all players of the German team were Covid positive in the past two weeks, and they weren’t fully fit. That was obvious in the second half of the match. Still, they managed to earn all three points.
The hosts, led by Montenegrins Darko Brguljan and Aleksandar Radovic and Russian Ivan Nagaev, rushed to a 3:0 lead in the first quarter. Deep into the second period, Hannover stretched the margin to four (7:3). But, the Romanians made a 4:0 run and leveled at 7:7 in the middle of the third quarter and again at 8:8.
Hannover entered the final quarter with a slim 10:9 advantage. Early in the fourth quarter, Darko Brguljan converted a man-up for 11:9. Fulea made it 10:11. Still, Hannover didn’t let the Romanians equalize once more. Nagaev and Schuetze found the net in the final minutes and Waspo earned a 13:10 lead. The visitors netted two goals in the last 43 seconds, just to reduce the gap.
Pro Recco – Jug AO 10:0 (technical score)
1.Pro Recco 8 – 21
2. Marseille 8 – 21
3. Jug AO 8 – 15
4. OSC Budapest 8 – 13
5. Waspo Hannover 8 – 11
6. Spandau 04 8 – 7
7. Steaua 8 – 3
8. Crvena Zvezda 8 – 3
Day 9 (February 8)
Spandau – Marseille
Pro Recco – Waspo Hannover
OSC Budapest – Jug
Crvena Zvezda – Steaua
