Our men’s soccer team, competing in the Europa League league phase, played as the visiting team against Puskás Akadémia on Sunday, August 30, in the 6th round of the OTP Bank Liga. Prior to the match in Felcsút, the hosts were atop the standings with 12 points from five games, while Fradi had earned four points from just three games due to two postponed matches.

Our head coach, Balázs Borbély, put his trust in the following starting lineup: Dibusz – Osváth, Raemaekers, Gómez, Cadu – Á. Nagy, Corbu – Z. Varga, Zachariassen, Arzani – Joseph.

First Half

Despite the evening kickoff and the fact that it was late August, the match began in summer-like heat and did not start well for Ferencváros, as Balázs Borbély was forced to make a substitution as early as the 14th minute: Lenny Joseph had injured his ankle in a previous tackle, so Krisztián Lisztes came on in his place.

There were no real threats on either goal for quite some time; Dénes Dibusz had to make his first save in the 24th minute following a cross from a corner kick. After that, Fradi took the initiative; in the 32nd minute, after winning the ball and making a move, Lisztes took a shot on goal but missed from 13 meters out. In the 33rd minute, Daniel Arzani tried his luck from distance; his shot was deflected for a corner, and from the resulting corner kick, Mariano Gómez headed toward the goal, but Bendegúz Lehoczki made the save, just as he did moments later on a shot by Máriusz Corbu. At that point, the home team was pinned back; in the 38th minute, Attila Osváth also took a shot from 15 meters out, though the ball sailed just over the crossbar. Despite their dominance on the field, they were unable to break through the opponent’s defense before the break, so the teams went into halftime tied 0–0.

Second Half

After the teams switched sides, Zétény Varga was unable to return to the field and was replaced by Bamidele Yusuf. Puskás had the first scoring chance: following a pass from András Németh, Pál Dárdai took a shot from 12 meters, but Dénes Dibusz made the save with his foot. Following these events, we took the lead in the 53rd minute: After a cross from Arzani, Kristoffer Zachariassen beat his opponent and, diving, headed the ball into the bottom right corner from eight meters out (0-1).

We couldn’t celebrate the lead for long, as the 58th minute brought a goal for the home team: Georgi Harutjunjan lifting the ball into our net (1-1). But Fradi responded with a goal of their own: after a superb pass from Attila Osváth, Bamidele Yusuf sprinted down the wing and then passed to Krisztián Lisztes, who was making a run through the middle, and Lisztes poked the ball into the net from close range (1-2). All of this happened in the 63rd minute.

In the closing minutes, Puskás Akadémia tried to inject fresh energy with substitutions; in the 73rd minute, Mikael Soisalo threatened with a close-range shot, but Dénes Dibusz made a spectacular save. In the 77th minute, we were awarded a penalty, but goalkeeper Lehoczki stopped Toon Raemaekers’ shot. This nearly cost us dearly in the end, as Lamine Colley headed the ball into our net from six meters just before the end of regulation time, but the referee disallowed the goal after consulting the video assistant referee. With a 2-1 victory over the league leaders, Ferencváros set the stage for the two big matches coming up next week.

Our team will play away against ETO FC on September 3—that is, next Thursday—and will next take the field at home on September 6—that is, next Sunday—when Újpest FC will be the opponent.

Tickets for the derby are now available for purchase at meccsjegy.fradi.hu and in person at the Groupama Arena ticket offices (general hours: Mon–Fri: 2:00 PM–7:00 PM; Sat, Sun: closed)!