Pick Szeged end barren run against Elverum
For Pick Szeged it has been a start of the season to forget, but the Hungarian champions finally rallied and enjoyed a victory to end the woes of the past few months, to take a 30:23 win against Elverum Handball.
GROUP B
Pick Szeged (HUN) vs Elverum Handball (NOR) 30:23 (16:10)
- Szeged secured their largest win in the competition since September 2021, when they won by nine goals against HC PPD Zagreb, 30:21
- a strong 3:0 start from the Hungarian side set the tone for what followed. Right back Kent Robin Tonnesen and line player Miklos Rosta were Szeged leading scorers, with six goals each
- the Hungarian champions snapped a four-game losing streak, coming only two games close to their worst run in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League of six games
- the Norwegian side lost their sixth match in a row and extended their winless streak to 15 matches, their worst run in the competition
- Elverum are now one of two teams in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League group stage without a win, alongside Portuguese champions FC Porto, but the only one on a five-game losing streak
Szeged end wait for Machineseeker EHF Champions League win
Last weekend, Pick Szeged were dealt another blow, when Telekom Veszprém HC denied them a comeback win in the Hungarian league, with the current champions conceding a 26:31 loss.
It meant their match against Elverum was crucial and they duly understood that, with a strong start and didn't look back to take a 30:23 win, their first in the competition since April 2022 when they beat Flensburg in the play-offs.
On the other side, Elverum's chances to progress to the play-offs have been dealt another blow, as they conceded their fifth loss in a row in the group. They have by far the leakiest defense this season, conceding 186 goals, an average of 37.2 goals per game.
Our players worked really well against Elverum who play a different style of handball than other teams. Our goalkeeper Mirko Alilovic was fantastic. He made many important saves and that helped us open a big lead in the first half. Then in the second half we controlled the game. This victory was really important for us. We played under pressure but we gained a great win. We have to build on this.
