After our thirty-five-time Hungarian champion men’s football team has secured the Hungarian title, on May 15th we had the opportunity to win the MOL Hungarian Cup as well. Our opponent in the Puskás Aréna was the team of Paks, whom we defeated 3-0 in the final in 2022. For this match Dejan Stankovic voted for the starting line-up of Varga Á. - Botka, Abena, Cissé, Civic - Ben Romdhane, Abu Fani, Maiga - Marquinhos, Varga B., Traoré in the almost full-house Puskás Aréna.

First half

In the first minute Traoré tried to make his way into the box, but Szappanos collected the ball. Soon afterwards Ben Romdhane gave the ball to Abu Fani, whose distant shot went wide. In the eighth minute Traoré’s shot missed the target. Six minutes later Marquinhos was unable to hit the target. In the 19th minute Könyves’ header missed our goal. In the 29th minute Varga Ádám had to make a save after Könyves’ shot. Both teams had chances, but these weren’t that dangerous. After 30 minutes, Szabó touched the ball with his hand in the box and the referee gave us a penalty, but Varga Barnabás missed from the spot. In the final minutes of the first half the referee sent Vécsei off, because he fouled Traoré as the last defender. Despite playing 11 against 10, we couldn’t create more chances, so the teams finished the first half with a draw.

Second half

The second half’s first shot was taken by Maiga, but it went over the bar. We made our first change in 55th minute, Ben Romdhane left the pitch, Kodro came on. Four minutes later Loncar replaced Maiga. In the 62th minute Varga Barnabás hit Szappanos after Loncar’s pass, but he was already offside. Five minutes later Varga Barnabás headed after Botka’s cross, but Szappanos could save this time as well. In the 76th minute Abena pushed Böde, for which he received his second yellow card, so we continued 10 against 10. Dejan Stankovic made another two changes, Varga Barnabás and Marquinhos left the pitch, Lisztes and Zachariassen came on. In the 87th minute Traoré had a great chance, but Szappanos saved again. Three minutes later we almost got the lead, Zachariassen scored but he was offside. The goalles 90 minutes were followed by extra time.

Extra time

In the extra time Ramírez came in for Civic. We tried to decide the game as soon as we could, first it was Kodro who missed a ball, then he could get a shot which missed the target. Later Varga Ádám saved Böde’s header. In the 98th minute Paks scored, Papp’s header found its way to our net (1-0). In the 100th minute of the game Lisztes left the pitch, Sevikjan substituted him. In the 108th minute Traoré’s cross was collected by Szappanos, then Kodro missed. In the last minutes Varga Ádám came to help his teammates at a corner, but Paks got the ball and after a fast counterattack they secured the title with Haraszti’s goal.