Match Report: One goal defeat in Debrecen

On Saturday early evening our team played at the home of DVSC in the 7th round of the OTP Bank Liga NB I. DVSC terminated the contract of Portuguese head coach João Janeiro by mutual agreement after the last round, and Tibor Dombi was temporarily in charge of Loki. Interestingly, the Debrecen legend also made his debut as a player against Vidi in the 1993 NB I. József Varga was congratulated on the occasion of his 250th NB I league game. The midfielder was a member of our 2018 champion team. Naturally, RBD also accompanied Vidi to Debrecen. Our head coach Michael Boris sent the following starting line-up out to the Nagyerdei Stadion: Kovács - Serafimov, Larsen, Stopira - Nego, Pinto, Fiola, Hangya - Funsho, Dárdai - Zivzivadze started the game for Vidi, who were playing in their all white kit.

First half: DVSC took the lead in first half injury time

The first chance came for Vidi in the 5th minute when our former player Bévárdi fouled Dárdai, and after Rúben Pinto's free kick Hrabina made a great save. In the 7th minute, Szécsi found the back of the net from close range, but it was ruled offside. A quarter of an hour later, Nego's cross was headed wide by Zivzivadze. A little over ten minutes and Dzsudzsák had two consecutive corner kicks, both with Kovács needing to work. After the second corner kick, our goalkeeper's superb kick out was met by Funsho, who lifted the ball over the goalkeeper but the defenders saved for a corner. In the 29th minute Ferenczi's cross was saved by Stopira, who slipped in a great tackle ahead of Babunszki.

A minute later, Ferenczi made a mistake at the back, Zivzivadze pounced on the ball inside Loki's box and shot at goal from 10 metres out, Hrabina got a touch on the ball but it would have ended up in the home goal anyway had Romanchuk not made a great save. In the 37th minute, after a hard collision between Funsho and Horváth, the Loki player was left on the ground, unable to continue the game, and had to be taken to hospital - we hope he makes a speedy recovery! In the 41st minute, Dárdai headed a free kick from 27 meters to the top right, Hrabina made a spectacular save. In the 45+2 minute of the first half, Dzsudzsák crossed from the right wing and Babunski nodded home between Serafimov and Nego (1-0). 

Second half: chances for Debrecen, but no more goals for the fans

The second half started with a great Loki chance, Bévárdi's cross was headed into the top right by Szécsi, but Kovács made a great save. In the 55th minute, Dzsudzsák took a free kick from a dangerous position from 19 metres out, and Kovács had to make another smart save. In the 67th minute our head coach made three changes to the team, replacing Funsho, Dárdai and Pinto with Schön, Kodro and Bumba. A quarter of an hour before the end of normal time, Dzsudzsák curled a free-kick 23 metres over the goal.

In the last twenty minutes of the game, neither side could score a goal, DVSC got their first win of the season, which was also the first home win for Loki since 2013 - the last time the Red and Whites managed to beat us in Debrecen was in the old Oláh Gábor Street Stadium. 

Our team will next host Mezőkövesd in a week's time, on Saturday evening at 20:00 at the MOL Arena Sóstó.