Bundesliga handball team SC DHfK Leipzig continued to impress in their second home game of the season. Coach Runar Sigtryggsson's men defeated VfL Gummersbach 34-29 (17-11) in front of their home fans. Germany internationals Luca Witzke and Franz Semper were SC DHfK's top scorers with nine goals apiece in front of 4321 fans.
Even without Viggo Kristjansson, who has been struggling with a thigh problem, Leipzig immediately got into the game and looked lively in front of goal. The hosts were not deterred by a brief lull. Leipzig did an excellent job of preventing VfL from playing at pace. The visitors struggled to create chances from positional attacks against Leipzig's 5:1 defence. SC DHfK lost some of their attacking edge as a result, but were still able to rely on the shooting of Franz Semper and the ever-improving goalkeeper Kristian Säveras, who saved nine shots before the break.
National player injured
Gummersbach stepped up the tempo in the second half, but were unable to close the gap as Leipzig maintained their high level of attacking play. VfL's hopes of catching up were dealt a further blow in the 44th minute when international Julian Köster injured his knee in an unfortunate challenge with Moritz Preuss and was forced off.
The home side controlled the match and looked to be on their way to victory when Matej Klima made it 29:21 in the 50th minute. Gummersbach did not give up, however, and their attacking play threw SC DHfK off their stride. The visitors cut the deficit to 28-30 in the 56th minute before Leipzig scored four unanswered goals to end the scoring drought.
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