North Macedonia’s powerhouse HC Alkaloid has gained an advantageous position to win the EHF European Cup.
HC Alkaloids defeated Athens HC (AEK Athens HC Greece) 29-25 in the first leg of the 2024/25 EHF Men’s European Cup Final at Sunel Arena in Athens, Greece on the 18th (local time).
HC Alkaloids led the attack with an even scoring distribution of players, with Serafimov Martin scoring six goals and Oliveira e Silva Francisco scoring five. At the goal, goalkeeper Kizikj Marko made nine saves, contributing greatly to the team’s victory.
ėŽė§ íë Photo 2024/25 EHF Men’s European Cup Final Alkaloids vs Athens, Photo Source = European Handball Federation
On the other hand, Athens HC fought hard, with Garain Dylan scoring six goals, Toure Souleimany scoring five goals, and Schmidt Erik and Panagiotou Dimitrios scoring four goals each, but goalkeeper Genty Yann’s eight saves alone were not enough to prevent the team’s defeat.
Both teams have shown remarkable aggression this season, but in the first leg of the finals, they have struggled to create scoring chances and reduce turnovers. Athens HC’s shooting success rate was only 49%, especially with five of the six penalties missing.
HC Alkaloids showed compliance with a shooting success rate of 66%, but fell short of the season average of 72.5%.
The first half started with Athens scoring two goals first, but a tight race began when Alkaloids, who fought back, scored three goals in a row.
The battle of sending and receiving goals was fought over each other, but they couldn’t escape by more than one goal. Then again, Athens scored back-to-back goals and ran away 14-12. Alkaloids, who fought back, finished the first half with a 16-14 lead as they scored four goals in the remaining five minutes.
In the second half, alkaloids continued to lead by two or three goals. Athens, which could not easily close the gap, caught up to 20-21, one goal difference in the middle with consecutive goals by Schmidt Erique and Garin Dillon.
It was a pity that he missed the opportunity to tie the game with the goalkeeper’s good defense. Alkaloids took a breather as Martin and Francisco’s back-to-back goals widened the gap again to 23-20.
Athens followed again 22-23, but again Alkaloids did not concede a tie and went on to 26-23 to maintain a two- or three-goal gap and eventually finish 29-25.
[Kim Yongpil, MK Sports Reporter]