Our 36-time Hungarian champions, defending champions and UEL main draw men's soccer team hosted Békéscsaba in the fourth round of the MOL Hungarian Cup. Robbie Keane made a surprise move by selecting our cup record-breaking team's home-grown talent, Dániel Radnóti, who had only played in preparatory matches for Fradi so far, to start the game. The 19-year-old goalkeeper was supported by Gartenmann, Ötvös and Szalai in front of him, Zachariassen, Abu Fani, Júlio Romao and O'Dowda in midfield, with Levi playing behind the strikers, while Pesics and Joseph were primarily responsible for scoring goals.

First half

We came close to scoring in the second minute when, after a corner kick from the left, Abu Fani shot the ball into the middle, the visiting defenders were unable to clear it, and Júlio Romao fired without hesitation, but only hit the crossbar. In the 8th minute, a cross from the right found Joseph, but our striker's header was blocked by a Békéscsaba defender.

Three minutes later, our Serbian striker Pesics found himself in a good position and tried to lob the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper, but he missed the target. For a long time, we couldn't find a way through the opponent's defense, but in the 24th minute, the deadlock was broken when Joseph got himself into position with a great ball reception and then shot into the bottom corner with his right foot (1-0).

In the 29th minute, Fradi scored again when O'Dowda fooled his defender on the left side and then shot the ball into the middle, where Pesics arrived and the Serbian made no mistake from close range (2-0). A minute later, we were close to scoring a third goal when Joseph took the ball and Levi got into a shooting position, but the defense blocked the shot.

Even with a two-goal lead, we didn't let up, constantly pressing forward into Békéscsaba's penalty area, which paid off at the end of the half when Zachariassen received a pass, took a bounce, and lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper with his right foot (3-0).

Second half

Our head coach, Robbie Keane, made two substitutions during the break: Madarász and Raemaekers came on, while Gartenmann and Ötvös remained in the dressing room.

The first chance of the second half fell to the visitors, but Pelles failed to connect properly with the ball and Radnóti collected it easily. In the 51st minute, Joseph dribbled past Pósert and rolled the ball into the goal before the defender could arrive, but the linesman flagged for offside and VAR confirmed that our attacker had started from an offside position.

In the 60th minute, Madarász got ahead of his man, then dribbled past two players and opted for a pass instead of a shot, but the Békéscsaba defense reacted well and managed to clear the ball. Two minutes later, he took a shot, but missed the goal. In the 63rd minute, we made another substitution, with Lisztes replacing O'Dowda.

Twenty minutes before the end of regular time, Radnóti had to make his first serious save, but he easily caught the ball heading for the top corner. In the 73rd minute, after a spin by Lisztes, Szalai found himself in front of the goal, but the ball was cleared off the goal line. We didn't rest in the final minutes, constantly attacking the visitors' goal, and in the 84th minute, Póser had to save Szalai's header. There was still time for another Fradi goal in extra time, with Joseph sitting down his defender at the baseline and then firing a shot into the near corner (4-0).

Our men's soccer team won 4-0, advancing to the next round of the MOL Hungarian Cup. The quarterfinal pairings will be drawn on Thursday, October 30, after the DVSC - Budapest Honvéd match. Our team will next host MTK in the Fizz League on Saturday, November 1, at 8:00 p.m.