CSM Bucuresti had previously lost the two games they played against Brest Bretagne Handball, but the Romanian side wrote a page of history this afternoon, by dominating the French team to win 33:26.
The Romanian side are now one of the three teams with three wins in EHF Champions League Women Group A, alongside SG BBM Bietigheim and reigning champions Vipers Kristiansand.
GROUP A
Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA) vs CSM București (ROU) 26:33 (13:17)
- the turning point for CSM was a 4:0 run between the 10th and the 15th minutes , when Laura Glauser, who made eight saves in the first half, shut down Brest and helped the Romanian take the lead
- the French connection of Grace Zaadi, Kalidiatou Niakate and Siraba Dembele worked wonders for CSM in their home country, as the three players combined for 10 goals
- this is CSM's first win in France in five matches, and the first time that CSM have started the season with two wins in a row since the 2017/18 season
- for the second time in Champions League history, Bretagne Handball threw off the season with two losses
- this was Brest's third loss in the past 25 matches at home in the Champions League
Tough conditions do not deter CSM
Due to an air traffic controllers strike in France, CSM reached Brest at five o'clock on Sunday morning, roughly 11 hours before the start of the match.
Whether this motivated CSM or not, they were fired up for the match and there was no sign of the fatigue that might have kicked in due to the travel conditions.
For the second game in a row, Cristina Neagu moved from the main attacking option
to a creator and CSM's leading scorer was Grace Zaadi, who is looking more and more as one of the top transfers of the season.
The French center back has now scored 13 times this season and is CSM's top scorer, followed by Elizabeth Omoregie, who has scored nine times.