After the international break, our defending champion men's soccer team took to the field for the 245th league derby at Újpest in the 10th round of the Fizz League. This time, Dávid Gróf was given the opportunity to start instead of Dénes Dibusz. Although our national team goalkeeper's minor injury is now a thing of the past, head coach Robbie Keane has only named our team captain among the substitutes for the time being.

First half

The first big chance of the match fell to the home side. In the 8th minute, after a nice move, Tiago Goncalves' low shot went just wide of the goal, and Iuri Medeiros tried to reach it but was unsuccessful. The spectators saw a few dangerous crosses from Ferencváros, and although Riccardo Piscitelli cleared the first two, Barnabás Varga was able to celebrate the third. Our national team striker Barnabás Nagy masterfully headed a cross from the left side into the left side of the goal from six meters out (0-1)! It is no coincidence that Varga is a member of the world elite with his heading skills, as recently confirmed by an international statistical analysis.

On the other side, Gróf had to make a big save after Medeiros' attempt, and although Stefan Gartenmann brought down the Újpest player who arrived at the rebound inside the box, the home team's player was offside, so Újpest did not receive a penalty.

The home team had more possession in the second half and had three great chances. First Milan Tucic, then Krisztofer Horváth, and finally Aljosa Matko had dangerous shots that Gróf had to save with great skill. There were no more great chances, so after the first half, Ferencváros led 1-0.

Second half

The second half began with Alex Tóth in action. In the 51st minute, our national team midfielder received the ball inside the box and beat an Újpest defender with a neat trick, but was forced to shoot wide before he could get a shot off. Then it was Jonathan Levi's turn, with both of our Swedish player's shots narrowly missing the top right corner. In the 63rd minute, Újpest equalized when Matko shot into an empty net from four meters out after a team move (1-1).

Naby Keita! Our Guinean midfielder started a pass in the 69th minute and tried to flick the ball past the onrushing Piscitelli, but the Italian goalkeeper got in the way and secured it. In the 77th minute, Tóth dribbled down the right side and passed to Varga, who slid the ball to Nagy, but the shot slipped away and was cleared.

Robbie Keane tried to freshen up the attack with substitutions, bringing on Aleksandar Pesics, Gruber Zsombor, and Mohammed Abu Fani. In the 73rd minute, Joao Nunes had a header that missed the goal, but after that, there was hardly any football-like action for 20 minutes.

Extra time also brought excitement, with Gróf receiving a red card, and since we had no substitutes left, goal scorer Barnabás Varga defended our goal in the final seconds. However, neither Újpest nor Ferencváros managed to create any chances, so the final match of the 10th round ended in a 1-1 draw.

Our team has now gone 31 competitive games and nearly 10 years without defeat against Újpest. The next match will be in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, October 23, at 6:45 p.m., when we will be guests of Austria's Red Bull Salzburg in the third round of the main draw. In Round 11 of the Fizz League, we will host ZTE at the Groupama Arena on Sunday, October 26, at 5:30 p.m.