Our 36-time champion men’s soccer team played its final derby against Újpest FC in this season. In the match held at the Szusza Ferenc Stadium, our team needed at least one, but preferably three points, to keep their mathematical chance of defending the league title alive until the final round of the Fizz League, as ETO FC won 4-0 against DVTK on Saturday and retained its first-place position in the standings.

Robbie Keane sent out the following starting lineup: Dibusz – Osváth, Gómez, Raemaekers, Szalai, O’Dowda – Kanikovszki, Zachariassen, Rommens – Gruber, Joseph; moreover, Gómez was now playing for our team as a Hungarian citizen.

First Half

In the opening minutes, play was concentrated mainly in midfield, with neither goal under threat. Most of the crosses came from the right side, primarily from Osváth, but the defenders were always able to clear them. In the 12th minute, Raemaekers got a shot off, but the ball deflected off the defense for a corner; following Gruber’s cross, Banai took possession of the ball. On the other side, Matko tried to put the ball in the net with an acrobatic move, but it went wide; however, Dibusz had to make a save on his subsequent header.

Then, in the 19th minute, following a free kick, the ball was headed back from deep and fell to Kristoffer Zachariassen, who made no mistake from close range (0-1). Fiola had an equalizer on his mind, but fortunately the ball went wide of the left post. On Fenyő’s long-range shot, Dibusz had to make a save on the ball, which was swerving sharply through the air. Shortly after, Horváth played a through ball to Ljujic, whose cross was just inches away from reaching the unmarked Matko. Gruber found himself in a scoring position in front of the home goal, but he missed, just as Joseph's header.

Second Half

Joseph opened the scoring in the second half; Gruber sent a superb cross to the far post, and Lenny Joseph slotted it into the net, sealing the three points (0-3). Osváth could have scored next, who were falling apart, but his shot went wide. From that point on, our team noticeably ceded control of the field to Újpest, though the home side couldn’t get in front of our goal. After a counterattack, the home crowd fell silent once more as Joseph struck again (0-4). We then made some substitutions: Mohammed Abu Fani came on for Zachariassen, the scorer of our first goal, and later Krisztián Lisztes, Csongor Lakatos, and Bamidele Yusuf also entered the game, replacing Grubert, Joseph, and Szalai. In the 78th minute, the match had to be interrupted due to disturbances by the home fans, and play was halted for a good 10 minutes. After that, Jonathan Levi came on to replace Kanikovszki.

In the nearly ten minutes of stoppage time, Abu Fani curled in a free kick from 24 meters out, giving us a 5-0 rout of Újpest!

Our team did what they had to do and won the derby, meaning we head into the final league match against ZTE trailing league-leading ETO FC by one point, as ETO FC travels to Kisvárda.

Ferencváros can defend its title if it beats Zalaegerszeg at Groupama Arena, provided that Győr does not win in Kisvárda, or if it draws and Győr loses in Kisvárda. In the event of a tie in points, the team with more wins takes precedence, and Ferencváros has the edge in that regard.

Prior to that, however, our team will face ZTE in the MOL Hungarian Cup final at Puskás Arena on Saturday, May 9.