Following a classic domestic match, our men’s soccer team took the field again on Sunday at Groupama Arena for Matchday 12 of the OTP Bank Liga. In the previous round, we secured a commanding victory in the eternal derby against MTK, earning our first home win of the season. The question, then, was whether we could continue our strong performance at home and secure all three points once again. Head coach Balázs Borbély entrusted this task to the very same starting eleven that had kicked off the successful match the previous week: Dibusz, Osváth, Raemaekers, Gómez, Cadu – Maiga, Madarász – Zachariassen, Corbu, Birmancsevics – Yusuf.

A Fradi victory would not only mean securing the three points but also that the two teams—of which Paks had played one more game—would swap places in the standings, with Ferencváros moving up to third place.

First Half
It became clear within the first five minutes that György Bognár, the head coach of Paks, had also set his team’s goal as securing three points; the visiting green-and-whites, playing in black, opened the match with considerable intensity. The first major scoring opportunity, however, arose in front of their own goal. In the 7th minute, Birmancsevics broke through alone toward the goal, but his shot from the corner of the box was stopped by goalkeeper Gyetván.

After that, fans had to wait until the 20th minute for the next noteworthy event, when Madarász grew tired of the fruitless scramble in front of the goal and blasted a shot at the Paks goal from 20 meters out—still to no avail. Corbu’s attempt from the right corner of the penalty area a minute later yielded the same result. Ferencváros’s dominance on the field, which had become clear by the middle of the half, thus remained fruitless for the time being. This was also the case after the long-range attempt that followed, this time by Maiga, who shot from twenty-five yards out, but Gyetván made another confident save. Midway through the half, Birmancsevics showed off his footwork near the corner flag, but his display of skill did not lead to a scoring opportunity. Meanwhile, Paks could only muster the energy for the occasional counterattack that fizzled out. In the 43rd minute, following a corner kick, Raemaekers’ header sailed just over the crossbar before the remaining minutes of the first half ticked away. The teams went into halftime scoreless.

Second Half

Balázs Borbély sent his team out with the same lineup for the second half. Not only did Birmancsevics stay on the field, but in the 47th minute, he also dribbled past his defender from the left just centimeters in front of the penalty area—as confirmed by the VAR review—resulting in a free kick from a promising position instead of a penalty kick, though no goal came of it.  Nor did the next cross from Birmancsevics, which Zachariassen shot toward the goal from five meters with a half-turn, and which Gyetván saved with a brilliant dive. Shortly afterward, he did the same with a header by Gómez following a free kick. During this period, play was practically confined to Paks’s penalty area.

Then, in the 59th minute, the goal finally came. Corbu cut in from the left wing, and his pinpoint cross was met by Yusuf, who arrived at just the right moment and nodded the ball unstoppably into the net from six meters out with equally pinpoint accuracy (1–0). The match became increasingly one-sided, with Fradi’s attacks continuing and Paks defending with growing desperation.

Aside from the visiting goalkeeper’s spectacular saves, the only other notable events were that Yusuf first picked up a yellow card and then, in the 71st minute, was substituted for a well-deserved rest; Joseph replaced him on the field, just as Bero, returning from injury, replaced Madarász.

In a match that eventually became one-sided, Fradi created chance after chance, but sometimes we lacked focus, and other times Gyetván pulled off a last-minute save. And just when everyone had written off the game as a one-goal victory for FTC, Fradi managed one more spectacular moment. In the 94th minute, Cadu crossed from the left into the middle, and although Joseph hit the left post from five meters out, Zachariassen blasted home the rebound (2–0). There wasn’t even time for a restart, and Ferencváros secured its second home victory of the season with a confident performance.

The next match is on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. away against AC Milan in the UEFA Europa League.