Dinamo in seventh heaven after win against Motor
With a surprising attacking prowess - 64% shot efficiency - for the second game in a row, Dinamo Bucuresti powered to a 35:31 win against HC Motor Zaporozhye in the Group D match of the second round.
It was only their second triumph in the history in the VELUX EHF Champions League, following the one against Tatran Presov in 2005.
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A 6:0 partial for Dinamo to end the first half was decisive, as Motor never got back into controlling the game
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Croatian right back Jakov Vrankovic was Dinamo's top scorer, with 8 goals
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The Romanian side is the new leader of the group, with three points after two games
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A draw against Nantes and a loss in Bucharest means that Motor are still winless after two games
GROUP D
Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) 35:31 (15:13)
Whilst determined to take their revenge after failing to win in Holstebro last week in the last second of the game, Dinamo did not enjoy a bright start against Motor.
12 goals from the back line in one half
The Ukrainian side made the brighter start and even led by 13:9 at the 23rd minute mark. A well-taken timeout by Dinamo's coach, Eliodor Voica, inspired the "Red Dogs", who were more precise in attack.
This combined with a tighter defence meant they never looked back. A 6:0 run, inspired by a powerful back line, who scored 12 of Dinamo's 15 goals in the first half, meant that the hosts were having an unexpected 15:13 lead at half-time.
No power in Motors for Zaporozhye
Motor briefly picked up the pace at the start of the second half, but the Ukrainian side continued to have no answer for Esteki and Vranjkovic, who continued to score goal after goal for the Romanian champions.
Their attacking play had them leading 25:21 after 43 minutes. Not even the flurry of suspensions received for their physical play managed to deter Dinamo, who kept at least a one-goal lead for all the second half.
Said after the game:
Eliodor Voica, Dinamo coach
: ''It truly was a Champions League match, by all means. I'm happy that even with a not so good first half we managed to stay together and performe better. We beat a very strong team, a team that is always present in the Champions League. We managed to equalize from a four goal deficit, and I'm happy we could overcome though moments''.
Jakov Vrankovic, Dinamo player: ''First, I want to thank the public, who trully was our 8th player. Without them it would have been very difficult. Motor is a team with great experience, so I think we did a great job. It's very good that we won, but I am sure we didn't show our full potential.''
Mykola Stepanets, Motor coach:
''It was a great match. We made very many mistakes and the other team did fewer than us. We also had problems with our injured players, there were about 4-5 players that couldn't play, so with did not have a very good rotation to use''.
Igor Soroka, Motor player:
''We took the lead early, but we did make a few mistakes and we allowed our opponent to come closer to use and later to equalize. When they took the lead, it was very difficult to catch them. It was also very hard, because we had a lot of losses.’’
TEXT:
Adrian Costeiu / sc