Our 36-time champion men’s soccer team, sitting in second place in the standings, looked forward to resuming league play against Paksi FC at Groupama Arena following their recent away loss to ETO FC in a key league match. Our Irish coach, Robbie Keane, fielded the following lineup: Dibusz – Gómez, Raemaekers, Szalai – Osváth, Rommens, Corbu, Kanikovszki – Gruber, Kovacevic, Joseph. Mohammed Abu Fani had accumulated five yellow cards, so Keane could not count on him.

First Half

We saw the first chance at the end of the sixth minute, when Gruber received a good pass from Corbu on the left side, and after the cross, Joseph headed the ball over the goal. Shortly after, Gyetván had to make a brilliant save on a shot by Kovacevic. In the 15th minute, a substitution was necessary; Kovacevic was injured and was replaced by Callum O’Dowda. Vécsei’s header gave us a scare in the 23rd minute, but luckily our former player failed to find the net. A minute later, Gruber found himself in a scoring position but made the wrong decision, so the chance was lost. On Kanikovszki’s shot, however, the defenders had to step in to block it.

Then, in the 43rd minute, following a corner by Kanikovszki, Gyetván saved the header, but Lenny Joseph slammed the rebound into the net (1-0). He could have scored the second goal almost immediately, but this time, after a pass from Gruber, his chip aimed at the top left corner of the goal went over.

Second Half

Kanikovszki had a shot in the 55th minute, but Gyetván made a diving save, and then Szalai’s header went over the bar. Shortly after, Corbu missed a golden opportunity: he received a perfect pass from the right side from about two meters out, but his header failed to find the net. These were our moments; we could have sealed the match, but the visitors’ goalkeeper made another save on Joseph’s clear-cut chance. After that, the ice broke, Joseph scored his second goal, and the match was decided (2-0).

Paks tried to make the score look better mainly with set pieces, but our defense cleared those opportunities. In the 76th minute, we made another substitution, with Krisztián Lisztes coming on for Gruber. Joseph came close to a hat trick, but he blasted the clear-cut chance high over the bar. In the 82nd minute, Dibusz saved Böde’s shot. In the 86th minute, Corbu received his second yellow card, leaving us a man down for the final stretch. Then, we made another substitution, bringing on Kristoffer Zachariassen for Joseph. 

Our defending champion men’s soccer team ultimately won 2-0 against Paksi FC; next up is the derby at Újpest next Sunday.