The handball players of SC DHfK Leipzig have conceded their sixth defeat of the season in the Bundesliga. The team of coach Runar Sigtryggsson lost 28:32 (15:17) at Rhein-Neckar Löwen on Thursday evening. In front of 5209 spectators, Matej Klima was Leipzig's best scorer with five goals. National player Juri Knorr (10/2) excelled for the Löwen. SC DHfK (10:14 points) slipped one place to tenth in the table.
The Leipzig club missed the start of the game and quickly fell behind 0:3 (3rd minute). However, the first goal in the sixth minute by Tim Matthes then sparked the visitors, who now got much more pace into their actions and went 6:4 ahead by the eleventh minute.
The SC DHfK maintained its lead up to 14:12 (22'), but only added one more goal before the break. The visitors were repeatedly thwarted by former Leipzig goalkeeper Joel Birlehm. The Lions, for whom pivot Jannik Kohlbacher shone with eight goals in the first half, took advantage of Leipzig's weak spell to recapture the lead by the break.
Birlehm also had a considerable influence on the game in the second half with his saves. As Leipzig's goalkeeper Kristian Saeveras also distinguished himself several times at the other end, the visitors remained close to the Lions until 22:23 in the 46th minute. Knorr then took control of the game and scored four goals in a row to give the home side a 28:23 lead (53'). SC DHfK was unable to make up this deficit in the hectic final phase.
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