Powerful Györ bring Vipers down
Saturday evening's clash in Hungary between reigning DELO EHF Champions League champions Vipers Kristiansand and five-time winners Györi Audi ETO KC was anticipated with great interest.
Vipers enjoyed an excellent start, but the Hungarian powerhouse quickly turned things around and led by four goals at the break. In the second half, Györ increased the gap to claim a 35:29 victory.
GROUP B
MOTW: Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN) vs Vipers Kristiansand (NOR) 35:29 (17:13)
- propelled by Andrea Pedersen's saves, Vipers got off to a brilliant start, leading 6:1 in the 8th minute
- Norwegian goalkeeper Silje Solberg, who made 10 of her 13 saves before the break, helped Györ to turn the tide and hold a four-goal lead at half-time
- Ragnhild Dahl scored 12 of 29 Vipers' goals in this match; Viktoria Lukacs was Györ's top scorer with seven goals
- Györ have now won seven of eight encounters against Vipers in European club competitions, losing just once
- in the next round, Vipers will host IK Sävehof in the Scandinavian derby on Saturday 18 September. On the same day, Györ are scheduled to play away at RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana
Györ ready to bounce back
Last season was hardly a success for the Hungarian powerhouse who lost both their domestic league and DELO EHF Champions League titles. Yet by beating Vipers in the opening match of the 2021/22 season, Györ demonstrated that they are once again the favourites.
Although the hosts were not perfect, they did a good job in attack and defence for most of the match and clinched a well-deserved victory against the reigning champions, who seem to need more time to integrate their new signings.
It is always exciting to play against a Norwegian team. I think we had a good speed at the beginning and we made a lot of mistakes. We needed to calm down. even if the opponent team had the lead. We believed in the conception and this was the key to success. We need to keep up this good work – and it was fantastic to play in this fantastic atmosphere.
