Report: No points away at ZTE

In the 23rd round of the OTP Bank Liga we played away in Zalaegerszeg. The match kicked off at 15:15 on Sunday afternoon. Manager Michael Boris sent the following starting team out onto the pitch at the the ZTE Arena. For the home team, ten-goal scorer Márk Koszta was in the starting line-up. Our loan player Dániel Zsóri and Vidi's 2018 league title winner Attila Mocsi started on the bench.

The first major chance came from the aforementioned Márk Koszta in the 8th minute, who headed Bedi's left-footed cross from the five-yard line over the goal. Two minutes later, Petryak's left-wing centre was gathered by keeper Demjén, and Halilovic's long-range shot was cleared. In the 12th minute, the home side took the lead - a long throw-in was met by Huszti, who calmly shot into the short bottom corner (1-0).

In the 21st minute we had a free kick 19 meters from the ZTE goal. Zulj took the set piece, the shot was hit with enough power, but unfortunately the ball went inches over the crossbar. Half an hour into the match, Kodro was in a shooting position, but he didn't connect with the ball very well, and Patrik Demjén didn't have to save. Three minutes later, Petryak's 17-metre effort was more dangerous, but the Ukrainian winger was unable to find the net. In the extra time of the first half, Petryak's cross was heading dangerously towards the middle, but Demjén dived out of the goal line and punched the ball away, so the teams went into the dressing room with the home side enjoying a one-goal lead.

The game continued without substitutions after the break. We started with great momentum and Kodro needed less than half a minute to score, but unfortunately the VAR disallowed the goal because of an offside decision - Funsho was just offside before the goal was scored. In the 59th minute, Fiola, wearing the captain's armband, made a great tackle from a left-wing cross from the home team. In the 62nd minute, Nikolic and Makarenko replaced Petryak and Alef, and just over ten minutes later Nego came on, replacing Funsho.

After 74 minutes, Huszti's cross was headed wide by Koszta, the effort was not really dangerous, as Kovács had it covered. In the 78th minute, after a corner, Serafimov shot from close range and from an acute angle over the goal. In the 80th minute, Meshack went down after a challenge by Heister inside the penalty area. Referee Csonka awarded a penalty, the VAR confirmed the decision after a lengthy review. The penalty was scored by Koszta (2-0). After the goal Hesiter was replaced by Hangya, Dardai by Lednev. At the end of the match, Meshack's shot was saved by Kovács, then referee Bence Csonka added seven minutes. We attacked with great energy, Nikolic almost scored from close range, but in the end ZTE won by two goals.