Match Report: Defeat away to Honved

On Sunday at 14:15 we played at the Bozsik Arena in the 20th round of the OTP Bank League. We were the guests of Budapest Honvéd and manager Imre Szabics went for Kovács D. - Nego, Fiola, Stopira, Heister - Lednev, Alef, Makarenko, Petryak - Zulj, Kodro to start, while our opponents of course had 12-goal scorer Nenad Lukic and Vidi's league and cup winner Krisztián Tamás in the starting line-up.

The first chance went to Drazic, the winger's close range header was saved by Dániel Kovács who pulled off a great stop in the 5th minute. Three minutes later, a Lovric mistake put Kodro in front of goal, but home goalkeeper Szappanos was on hand to save the effort. In the 25th minute, Zulj's cross found the onrushing Nego, who outjumped Tamás and headed the ball towards Kodro, but Szappanos was alert and dived forward to save.

In the second half, Batik made two big tackles - in the 31st minute he saved Petrjak's shot, and in the 36th minute he saved Makarenko's 19-metre shot from his own goal line. Between the two, Fiola's acrobatic chance was impressive but our national team defender failed to find the net. Five minutes before the break, the home side attacked but could only get as far as the side netting from Zsótér's corner.

Neither manager made a substitution at the break. In the 48th minute Lukic had a chance in front of goal, but a minute later we took the lead! Zulj dribbled 16 metres from the Kispest goal and then cleverly put the ball into the net (0-1)! Unfortunately, we could not enjoy the lead for a long time, as after Tamás' cross Dominik Nagy equalized in the 55th minute (1-1). After the goal both teams made changes. Nebojsa Vignjevic first sent on Gale for Drazic, then Imre Szabics substituted Dardai and then Funsho for Lednev and Alef. In the 75th minute, Heister shot wide of the target from distance, by which time Machach and Pantelic were also on the pitch for Zsótér and Hidi. Seventy-seven minutes into the match, the home sides right-back Petkovic was in position after a pass from Dominik Nagy, but Dániel Kovács made a great save from his close range shot.

The game was about to turn, Petryak's cross was headed at goal by Funsho, but unfortunately he connected with the ball the wrong way and Szappanos was able to save. In the incident, Krisztián Tamás, who was trying to save, was injured and was replaced by Botond Baráth, and then Lukic was replaced by Traoré. In the 86th minute, Dominik Nagy's free-kick hit the post and Petrusenkó slotted the rebound into the net (2-1), and in extra time Dominik Nagy scored his second goal, his team's third (3-1), and there was also time for Marcel Heister to be shown a red card, so we ended the match a man-down and Budapest Honvéd won by two goals.