THW Kiel edges Rhein-Neckar Löwen 37:36 – Johansson decides after the final whistle

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents THW Kiel edges Rhein-Neckar Löwen 37:36 – Johansson decides after the final whistle.

If you were there on Sunday in the Kieler Arena or watching from your couch, you experienced a rollercoaster ride. It took a seven-meter throw after the final whistle – and an ice-cold shooter named Eric Johansson. On Matchday 9 of the Handball Bundesliga, THW Kiel subdued Rhein-Neckar Löwen 37:36 (19:20) and has at least temporarily moved to the top of the table. For the Löwen, the defeat is especially bitter: it was the first game under new coach Michel Abt, just three days after the split from the previous coach.

How tight it really was

The match had everything handball fans love – and everything that drives the neutral viewer mad. At halftime, the home side trailed 19:20. The Löwen kept the game open over 60 minutes, trading the lead, fighting tooth and nail. In the end, from Kiel's perspective it was 37:36. The Rheinpfalz reports 37:38 (20:19) in their match report, however – a figure that contradicts NDR, Sportschau, MSN, and the Kicker live ticker, which all agree on 37:36. Probably a number mix-up – for a final score that was decided in the final second –, not unusual.

Johansson decides in the final second

The decisive scene: Eric Johansson, Swedish backcourt player for Kiel, stepped up to take the seven-meter throw immediately before the final whistle – some sources explicitly say: after the final whistle – and converted. "A seven-meter throw by Eric Johansson immediately before the end of the game decided the match," writes the Rheinpfalz. The ball nestled in the net, the arena exploded. Anyone who didn't get goosebumps watching this game wasn't paying attention. "Bloody noses, finger injuries and a tight scoreline characterized the gripping duel," Headtopics sums up the drama. The Kicker live ticker records every single action – a source worth saving if you want to relive the thriller.

New coach, same old result

For Rhein-Neckar Löwen, the match was more than just a defeat in a top-of-the-table clash. Michel Abt sat on the bench for the first time – three days after the dismissal of his predecessor, as the Rheinpfalz reports. Instead of a liberating win, there was what the paper describes as "going down on their knees at the very end." The new coach's fingerprint cannot be read with any seriousness after just one game, but the fighting spirit, the will, and the defensive stability of the team were evident over long stretches. In the end, they lacked that little bit of luck – and a saved seven-meter throw.

What the league lead is worth

After this win, THW Kiel is "at least provisionally the new league leader of the Handball Bundesliga," as NDR puts it. The word "provisionally" is key: competition at the top of the league is tight, and Kiel knows that such nail-biting wins will not always be enough in the coming weeks. But it's exactly these games – the tight ones, the hard-fought ones, the ones decided with the final throw – that make the difference between championship and runners-up spot at the end of a season. For the Zebras' fans: THW is back at the very top – and Johansson has earned himself a small slice of immortality in Kiel.