Metz top group B ahead of winter break

GROUP B

Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO) vs Metz Handball (FRA) 18:27 (6:13)

• after a somewhat even start to the game, Metz jumped to a six-goal lead thanks to a strong defence leading to fast break goals
• Lokomotiva struggled in the attack in the first half, with only 22 per cent attack efficiency - they can blame Hatadou Sako and her nine saves at 60 per cent save efficiency
• Ana Malec, Lokomotiva's top scorer with five goals, was the first name (locomotive) of the home team in the second half, helping her team to reduce the gap to four goals
• from the 45th to the 50th minute it looked like Lokomotiva could come even closer, but Sarah Bouktit's steals saw Metz get the lead back to seven goals in under two minutes
• Debbie Bont and Sarah Bouktit could not miss as Metz's line player and right wing, respectively, scored five times out of five attempts

A successful first half of the season

Metz Handball should be more than happy with their results in the first half of this season. The French team goes to winter break as the leader of group B with 15 points. Metz have only one defeat this season, against Team Esbjerg in round 5 and just one draw against Rapid Bucuresti. Emmanuel Mayonnade's team, after nine rounds, is third, overall in the competition, netting 282 times with 65.3 per cent efficiency. This makes this season even more successful than last year's when they had two defeats in eight rounds before the break.