Following their 4-0 victory over Békéscsaba in the MOL Hungarian Cup on home turf, our Hungarian championship-winning men's soccer team welcomed MTK to the Groupama Arena on Saturday evening, November 1, for the 12th round of the Fizz League. Our Irish head coach, Robbie Keane, put his trust in the starting lineup of Dibusz - Gartenmann, Cissé, Raemaekers - Cadu, Tóth, Kanikovszki, Zachariassen, Nagy B. - Gruber, Varga.

First half

The visitors kicked off the match. We created our first scoring opportunity in the 11th minute: Alex Tóth sent a corner kick into the middle, Zachariassen shot, but missed the goal. In the 18th minute, Kanikovszki shot at goal with great power from about 20 meters, but Demjén made a brilliant save. After that, Kanikovszki's pass bounced off the MTK defenders onto the crossbar, and Varga shot the rebound, but Demjén made another save.

In the 18th minute, we took the lead! Kanikovszki sent a perfect cross into the middle, and Gartenmann headed it into the goal from 10 meters with a beautiful move (1-0)! Our defender then asked to be substituted, as he was unable to continue playing due to injury, and Gábor Szalai came on in his place. In the 26th minute, our substitute defender threatened the MTK goal with a header, but his attempt went over the bar. Shortly afterwards, Zachariassen shot over the bar. In the 29th minute, Varga found himself in a great position and shot from 6 meters, but Demjén saved his shot. In the 40th minute, Varga received a good pass from the left and headed the ball from 10 meters, but it went over the goal.

Second half

We made one change during the break, with Abu Fani replacing Tóth. In the 51st minute, Varga shot at goal from a sharp angle, but his shot rebounded off Szépe and eventually left the field after hitting the crossbar. In the 55th minute, Abu Fani passed to Gruber, who shot wide. In the 64th minute, Raemaekers headed Abu Fani's cross, but his attempt missed the goal. In the 69th minute, Gruber passed to Cadu with a nice move, who shot from 14 meters, but Demjén made a brilliant save. A minute later, we scored our second goal! After Gruber's corner, Szalai headed the ball into the goal with great force (2-0)!

In the 76th minute, Cadu tried two shots, but Demjén saved both. In the 78th minute, substitute Madarász shot from 20 meters, but the MTK goalkeeper was able to save it. In the 80th minute, we scored our third goal, again with a header! After Abu Fani's corner, Barnabás Varga nodded the ball into the goal with a beautiful move (3-0)! In the 83rd minute, we scored again! Barnabás Nagy shot into the top right corner with a sensational move (4-0)!

In the 85th minute, substitute Lisztes found himself in a great position, but his shot was saved by Demjén. Two minutes later, the MTK goalkeeper had to save a header from Cissé, who had pushed forward. In the 88th minute, MTK pulled one back with an own goal by Cadu (4-1). There were no further chances, and we secured a confident 4-1 victory in the eternal derby.

Our men's soccer team will next host Bulgarian side Ludogorec in the UEFA Europa League group stage on Thursday, November 6, at 9 p.m.