THW Kiel Denied Last-Minute Victory Against Leaders Flensburg After Referee Review

THW Kiel relinquished a derby victory in the Handball-Bundesliga, missing the chance to take the top spot in the standings.

The newly assembled team under new coach Börge Lund drew 31:31 (18:14) against SG Flensburg-Handewitt in a hard-fought northern derby. Both teams suffered their first point loss after five wins.

With the game's final attack, Julian Köster appeared to have scored the winning goal for Kiel. The referees spent several minutes reviewing video footage, ultimately disallowing the goal, apparently for a traveling violation.

"That's a really tough call, things like that happen constantly during a game. It's good for us, but I completely understand Kiel's frustration," said Flensburg's Simon Pytlick to Dyn. "Very unlucky for us," commented Kiel's Hendrik Pekeler regarding the final play. "I don't see anything that should have prompted the referees to go to the video referee."

Kiel's top scorer was Domen Makuc with nine goals. Denmark's world champion Pytlick and France's Aymeric Minne stood out for Flensburg, each scoring seven goals.

Fans of these historically successful clubs have had to endure a recent period of disappointment, as both teams finished last season without a title. Because THW even missed out on a European cup spot and is now experiencing its first season in 33 years without international competition, club icon Filip Jicha was forced to step down as coach in the summer.

His successor, Lund, is tasked with leading the club back to the top after three years without a championship. He has assembled an exciting squad for this mission. Star signings Köster and Makuc demonstrated their quality against Flensburg with strong defensive play and goals.

After an open start, Kiel pulled ahead by as much as five goals towards the end of the first half (17:12). THW clung to this lead for a long time, taking significant time off the clock during their attacks and benefiting from the consistently strong Andreas Wolff in goal.

In a gripping final spurt, Flensburg equalized with their last attack and then had fortune on their side with the final refereeing decision.