Our 34-time champion men's football team played at home of Mezőkövesd in the 26th round of the OTP Bank League. In the encounter after the national team break, head coach Dejan Stankovic voted for Varga Á. - Makreckis, Cissé, Abena, Civic - Maiga, Loncar - Zachariassen, Katona B., Marquinhos - Kodro.
First half
Our team in black and green immediately played offensively against Mezőkövesd, who were bottom of the table. In the fourth minute, Marquinhos crossed in from the left, but his roll was blocked by the Mezőkövesd defenders. The home team then tried to score from in front of our goal, but G. Molnár's shot was off target. In the eighth minute, Makreckis made a great sprint down the right flank, but his pass to the middle was not accurate, and the home side broke free. In the 15th minute we almost took the lead! After a great cross from Marquinhos, Zachariassen broke clear of the defenders and fired a beautiful shot that Piscitelli was able to get a hand to, and the goalpost saved the home side from the Fradi goal. In the 20th minute, the Italian goalkeeper of Mezőkövesd showed another great effort: Civic crossed from the left, Zachariessen headed into the goal, but Abena also got a hand to the ball, and Piscitelli saved. In the 29th minute, Brtan fired a shot that hit off Drazsics' foot and went over the baseline. In the 38th minute we took the lead! After a pass from Kodro, Lukic made a big mistake, Loncarel took the ball from him and shot into the goal (0-1)! In the 43rd minute Marquinhos almost doubled our lead. Our striker received a great pass from Makreckis, but his shot was saved by Piscitelli. Immediately after the shot, Marquinhos was fouled. Civic took the free kick, his shot went centimeters over the goal. Our team played a great first half and went into the break with a one goal lead.
Second half
Our team kept the momentum after the turnaround. In the 51st minute we doubled our lead.After a pass from Marquinhos, Loncar shot from 18 meters into the bottom left corner, a beautiful goal (0-2)! Our midfielder played a great game and was also extremely dangerous in front of goal, so he was able to double his tally. In the 55th minute, Szolgai aimed at the goal of Ádám Varga, but our goalkeeper saved confidently. In the 67th minute, Ben Romdhane shot from 20 metres out, but his effort was blocked by the Mezőkövesd defenders and did not reach Piscitelli's goal. A minute later we created another great situation: after Loncar's cross, Marquinhos headed onto the post. In the 71st minute, Ben Romdhane tried again to shoot but missed the target. Shortly afterwards, Pászka shot over. After last November, our winger Adama Traoré, recovering from injury, came on again to replace Loncar, the hero of the match.
In the 81st minute, Makreckis, who had been playing with great spirit throughout, fired a shot but Piscitelli saved. Soon after, Cseri's shot was easily saved by Ádám Varga. In the 83rd minute, following a pass from Civic, Sevikjan shot into the short corner but Piscitelli - again - made a great save. In the 85th minute we scored our third goal! Bem Romdhane's shot was cleared by the defenders and the rebound was shot into the goal by substitute Barnabas Varga (0-3)! Our striker has scored his 18th goal in the OTP Bank League, so he is currently highest up on the Top Scorers list.In the 90th minute, Sevikyan got into a great situation, he took the ball past the goalkeeper, but his shot was blocked by the defenders. In extra time, Sevikyan threatened again, his curling effort was saved by Piscitelli. Finally, Barnabas Varga had another chance, but our striker headed over.
The result did not change, we triumphed 3-0. Thanks to our victory, with one game less to play, we increased our lead over second-placed Paks to five points.
Men's football, OTP Bank League, Round 26
Mezőkövesd-FTC 0-3 (0-1)
Mezőkövesd, Városi Stadion, 4130 spectators. Ref.: Csonka
Mezőkövesd: Piscitelli - Kállai (Pillár, 58.), Beriashvili, Lukic, Vajda - Cseke, Szolgai (Kócs-Washburn, 58.), Brtan - Molnár G. (Cseri, 67.), Drazsics, Sampiero (Karnyicki, 67.)
Head coach: Milan Milanovics
FTC: Varga Á. - Makreckis, Cissé, Abena, Civic - Maiga (Pászka, 65.), Loncar (Traoré, 78.) - Zachariassen, Katona B. (Ben Romdhane, 46.), Marquinhos (Szevikjan, 78.) - Kodro (Varga B., 65.)
Head coach: Dejan Sztankovics
Yellow card: Molnár G. (27.), Beriashvili (32.), resp. Maiga (35.)
Goals: Loncar (38.), Loncar (51.), Varga B. (85.)
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