HU
Our training match against Osijek was a goalless draw for a long time, which was finally won by our opponents with a header in the 77th minute.
After Wednesday's friendly match against Hajduk Split, our team played another preparation match on Saturday afternoon, this time against NK Osijek, who are third in the Croatian top flight, in Umag.
Our team started the match with the line-up Kovács D. - Nego, Larsen, Stopira, Heister - Christensen, Kovács B. - Kastrati, Dárdai, Funsho - Szabó L. and we immediately had a chance, after Kastrati's run and cross from the right side, the Croatian fullback was able to clear ahead of Funsho. At the other end, the first dangerous chance came in the 18th minute, Grzan's cross swung dangerously past the heads of the oncoming Osijek players. A minute later, Janjic's shot hit the right post, and midway through the first half, Levente Szabó stepped up with a good free-kick, but from a slightly out-of-position angle, he hit the side netting.
In the 29th minute, Dárdai's free-kick went over the top and Grzan missed a ball in front of goal. In the final two situations of the half, our goalkeeper made important saves: first Dániel Kovács saved Lovric's 28-metre free kick from the bottom left corner, then Janjic stepped up, but Kovács also saved the ball into the top left corner, so the teams went int at the break with a goalless draw. We started the second half with a team of Kovács D. - Bese, Serafimov, Kojnok, Hangya - Pokorny, Pető - Menyhárt, Houri, Schön - Kodro, and in the 54th minute our goalkeeper made a great save to keep out Mierez' close-range header from under the crossbar. Rockov came on in the 65th minute, and four minutes later Menyhárt was replaced by 16-year-old Olivér Cserkuti-Németh, who made his first-team debut today. In the 77th minute, Osijek took the lead: after a left-wing corner, Mierez headed into the right side of the goal (0-1). Two and a half minutes later, he tried again after a good trick, but his shot from 14 metres was saved by Rockov in the bottom left corner. No more chances were created for either side in the final minutes and the match ended with a 1-0 win for Osijek. Our team will next play against Slovenian first division Domzale in Porec on Wednesday at 15:30.
Author: David Rechnitzer
