SG Flensburg-Handewitt took a giant step towards the quarter-finals in the first leg of the EHF European League play-off at Danish representative SAH-Aarhus. The defending champions ran out surprisingly clear winners by 38:32 (18:15). With the score at 24:24, coach Ales Pajović put his trust in the youngster in the SG jersey, Thilo Knutzen. And the backcourt player paid him back with hard cash in the form of his performance. In the final quarter of an hour, he impressed with six clean goals and played a decisive role in leading his team to a six-goal triumph in the neighboring kingdom.
Concentration in attack after ups and downs in the first half
The start of the game was up and down. After Marko Grgić opened the scoring with the 1:0 in favor of the SG and Kent Robin Tønnesen made it 2:1, the SG literally warmed up Magnus Petersen in the hosts' goal. He made five saves in the first eight minutes. Among them, he saved a seven-meter penalty from Emil Jakobsen. As a result, the SG fell behind 2:4. After that, the attack was more focused and made good finishes, in particular by Lasse Møller and the strong Marko Grgić themselves to take a 6:4 lead. After the 6:6 equalizer, the SG found more security in offense. The defense got a grip on the Danish attack in positional play for a while. As a result, the Pajović-team pulled 11:7 ahead in the 21st minute. However, the defense was weakened by a number of time penalties, allowing the home side to score a few easy goals again. However, as the SG remained focused up front and made good use of its chances, the club from Fördestadt went into the break with a deserved 18:15 lead.
Initially out of step in the second half - then with concentration
The encounter went back and forth after the break, with Marko Grgi's eighth goal making it 21:18ćthe three-goal lead remained intact. However, the SG then ran out of steam. It missed a number of opportunities in attack and conceded goals too quickly and too easily in defense. The home side equalized midway through the second period through Kristjan Kristjansson to make it 24:24. SG Head Coach Ales Pajović called his second timeout and changed the direction of the game. He brought on Thilo Knutzen in attack and played with a seven against six formation. And the youngster from Flensburg hit the ground running. He made it 25:24 for the SG and, after equalizing at 25:25, was one of the reasons why the gaps in the Skanderborg-Arhus cover were found thanks to his excellent transition play. Two goals from captain Johannes Golla and one from right wing Aksel Horgen enabled the SG to open up a three-goal gap again at 28:25 (48'). The home side kept coming back to within two goals, but Thilo Knutzen always provided the answer with important goals. He made it 33:29 with six minutes remaining and took a lot of pressure off the SG. With his sixth goal, the backcourt player made it 37:32, and Johannes Golla was responsible for the final score of 38:32 with his ninth goal. The SG captain was therefore also the top scorer in the entire match. This was followed by cheers from the 300 or so Flensburg fans and loud shouts of "Thilo Knutzen", which the youngster and his teammates visibly enjoyed after the perfect final quarter of an hour.
