Our defending champions played at the home of Zalaegerszeg in the 24th round of the OTP Bank Liga. We had an eight-point lead over second-placed Kecskemét, while ZTE were eighth in the table. Our team had drawn 1-1 at home to Mezőkövesd and lost 2-1 to Puskás Akadémiemija in the last two rounds, but had 13 points in their last five away games, giving them a chance to improve their mood after two poor league games and the UEFA Europa League farewell against Bayer Leverkusen. Stanislav Cherchesov sent out the following starting line-up for the first match after the historic UEL match: Dibusz - Botka, Abena, Knoester, Civic - Esiti, Boudjemaa - Sagal, Zachariassen, Traoré - Baden. The two teams have already met in Zalaegerszeg this season, with us winning 2-1 in the postponed league game, with Adama Traoré's 90th minute goal.

First half

Our team in the green and white striped jersey started the match. In the 3rd minute, ZTE threatened first with a cross from the right, but the well-placed Endre Botka put the ball away from the five. In reply, in the 6th minute, Chilean Sagal raced inside the penalty area and shot from 7 meters, but Demjén saved at the bottom corner. Shortly afterwards, Esiti's curled ball was flicked on by the outrushing home goalkeeper from the head of the diving Zachariassen. In the 12th minute, Civic's left-wing corner was met by both Knoester and Zachariassen, the former managing to head well over the bar. Three minutes later Botka curled the ball superbly onto the foot of the outrushing Baden, who shot from a slightly wide position right into the diving defender, and the corner was unfortunately not a threat. In the 20th minute, Ikoba set up Grezda for a shot, but the Albanian striker fired over from 17 metres. A few moments later, Ricardo Moniz, who was complaining vehemently, was booked by the referee with a yellow card. After a few minutes of field play, Grezda's left-wing cross brought excitement, but the onrushing Csóka could only hit the ball but not direct it towards goal. There was a great save from Civic in the 30th minute. In the 35th minute, Boudjemaa made a terrible mistake, giving the ball to Ikoba, who was standing alone in front of the goal, and to the Algerian's credit, he managed to slip in and save from the Zala striker. The first yellow of the match went to Tajti, who gave Sagal a big one in the 41st minute. From the free kick Baden put the ball well in the middle, which slipped off the head of a Zala player and surprised the onrushing Sagal, the Chilean kicking the ball over his knee from 4 metres. In the 45th minute, ZTE took the lead, Civic got a bad header, Ubochioma took the ball, then he beat Knoester and curled the ball into the right side of the goal (1-0).

Second half

Neither side made a substitution at the break, but in the 51st minute, Coach Cherchesov made a change, with Marquinhos coming on for Sagal. Mim came on for Grezda for the home side. There was still a lot of stoppages of play, hardly any continuous play, which favoured the Zala team. A quarter of an hour went by without a particularly big situation in the second half. In the 60th minute, Traoré claimed a yellow card. In the 65th minute Boudjemaa was replaced by Gojak. After the substitution, Marquinhos was booked for holding up Ubochioma. In the 69th minute, a great chance for an equaliser was missed when Knoester was in position from a left-wing corner, but Demjén saved well. Another Fradi substitution came: Civic was replaced by Mercier. In the 72nd minute, Knoester also received a yellow card from Andó-Szabó. In the 75th minute, hope was raised when Zachariassen scored from Botka's cross, but the goal was disallowed for offside. In the 80th minute, Gojak passed to Traoré, who broke the ball from 12 metres out. On the counter-attack Tajti stepped up but his pass was inaccurate, so there was no great danger from the counter-attack. In the 83rd minute another Demjén save: after Gojak's corner Baden slid in hard, but the Zala goalkeeper made a great save. We tried to equalize in the second half, but Ubochioma's goal decided the three points.

The team will now have a break in the league, with two home games for the national team, first against Estonia in a pre-season match on 23 March, and then against Bulgaria in a European Championship qualifier on 27 March, with Dénes Dibusz, Endre Botka and Bálint Vécsei in the squad. In the OTP Bank League, we will next play in the 25th round on Sunday, 2 April, at home against MOL Fehérvár FC, tickets for the match can be purchased on meccsjegy.fradi.hu!