Originally scheduled to take place in sunny weather at the end of August 2022, the away match against Paks in the 4th round of the OTP Bank Liga was postponed. The rescheduled match took place now on 1 February 2023, at 3 degrees Celsius, after a heavy rain shower. Despite this, head coach Stanislav Cherchesov's team were confident they would not experience a freezing moment in Paks. Before the home derby against Újpest this Sunday (5 February), our coach started the match with the following starting line-up: Dibusz – Botka, S. Mmaee, Knoester, Pászka – Besic, Vécsei – Auzqui, Tokmac, Traoré – R. Mmaee. The home side, seventh in the table, could not count on their leading striker, Barnabas Varga, who leads the NB I scoring charts with 11 goals, while we had two winter arrivals on the bench, Surinamese Myenty Abena and Ghanaian Owusu Kwabena. For our captain, Dénes Dibusz, it was his 400th game in a Fradi shirt, all things considered.

First half

Our team in the golden jersey started the match. In the 3rd minute, we had a free kick from the right corner of the Paks penalty area, where they committed a foul against Tokmac. From the free kick we gave the ball away quickly, but we got it back just as quickly, and at the end of the attack Ryan Mmaee curled the ball 17 meters wide of the right post. In the 8th minute, Auzqui headed in a great cross from the five-meter line, but instead of putting the ball in the net, he nodded the ball into the middle with nobody arriving to his ball. In the 10th minute Ryan Mmaee had a chance, he flicked the ball under from 4 meters out but the outrushing Simon goalkeeper blocked. In the middle of the half, Vécsei sent the ball to the onrushing Pászka, who crossed straight to midfield but the ball was cleared by the defenders. Then, Besic sent in a follow-up but Traoré's shot from 13 metres was blocked.

In the 27th minute, Vécsei had a free-kick from 20 metres out, but he bombed into the wall. A corner was taken and goalkeeper Simon cleared the ball, but his efforts were blocked by the defenders. In the 39th minute we saw the first card of the match: the yellow card was shown to Bálint Szabó of Paks after he kicked Ryan Mmaee from behind. In the 41st minute, Pászka's free kick was headed in by Knoester, but Simon saved easily. Nothing else happened in the first half as the teams went into the break 0-0.

Second half

At the break, the home side made the only change, with Róbert Waltner sending on Kristóf Papp for József Windecker. Paks opened with a great chance, Samy Mmaee headed the ball in front of the opponent after a cross from the right, and Osváth shot over the bar from 15 metres. In the 49th minute Paks took the lead, Kinyik headed the ball into the middle of the box and from close range he bombed the ball under the bar from 4 metres (1-0). After the goal, Stanislav Cherchesov also made a change, replacing Auzqui with Marquinhos and Vécsei with Zachariassen. In the 58th minute Tokmac was also shown a yellow card. In the 61st minute, Samy Mmaee saved a great chance by sliding in to save a corner kick. Kinyik found the ball empty after a corner kick and the defender nearly doubled his goals, but his shot went past the left post. Samy Mmaee had to be substituted after his tackle, as did Haraszti, who was stopped. Our defender was replaced by Kovacevic, and Owusu Kwabena, signed from Qarabag in Azerbaijan in the winter, made his Fradi debut, replacing Lóránd Pászka.

In the 67th minute, Besic's long ball behind the defence was slid in by Marquinhos but was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 70th minute, Knoester was also booked. In the 72nd minute we equalised: Marquinhos crossed from the right and our new signing Owusu, who jumped up on the far side, nodded into the net (1-1). Excellent debut! In the 77th minute, Sajbán slid in a dangerous corner, but Dibusz saved with great bravery. In the 83rd minute, another substitute, Zachariassen, scored, after Brazilian Marquinhos' cross, the Norwegian player headed into the goal from 6 meters (1-2). In the last two matches between the two teams, Fradi won both with a goal in the last minute, and again it was the last minutes that decided the game. The game was not over yet, however, as Kádár kicked Ryan Mmaee inside the penalty area. The penalty was taken by the victim who scored confidently (1-3).

Our defending champions and UEL round of 16 winners, the men's football team, have now set the tone for Sunday's derby, which kicks off at 17.30 at the Groupama Arena!