Our team was forced to postpone the match, originally scheduled for March 16, due to the Europa League Round of 16 second leg against Braga. Following Friday’s victory over DVTK, our team was able to prepare with confidence for the weekend’s match against the visitors, who had suffered a 4-1 home loss to Győr.

Our team started the match with the Dibusz–Gómez, Raemaekers, Szalai–Osváth, Kanikovszki, Corbu, Zachariassen, O'Dowda–Joseph, Gruber lineup.

First Half

Our team started the match with dominance on the field, while the visitors tried to stifle our momentum with tough tackles. Fifteen minutes had passed when the visitors reached Dénes Dibusz’s goal, but Toon Raemaekers made a masterful sliding tackle to prevent a real scoring opportunity from developing.

In the 24th minute, Zachariassen slid in to meet a free kick curled in from the left, and Golla, from inside the box, sent the ball flying over the crossbar and into the net. Following the corner, Raemaekers’ header struck the crossbar before the ball went out of play.

In the 30th minute, our Belgian defender was again the protagonist; Szappanos blocked his free kick from 23 meters, but Zachariassen was unable to poke the rebound into the net. The visitors, however, were lucky: in the 33rd minute, a turnover allowed Dániel Lukács to break through on goal, and from eight meters out, he managed to slot the ball past Dibusz into the net. (0-1) 

In the 39th minute, following a scramble in front of the goal, Szappanos punched away Raemaekers’ header, but the ball fell right to Joseph, and our striker only had to tap it into the net from two meters out. (1-1)

We went into halftime with the lead, as Gavriel Kanikovszki slotted the ball into the net from 16 meters after a textbook play. (2-1)

Second Half

The half began with a free kick by Raemaekers, and in the 58th minute, Joseph’s low shot went just centimeters wide of the left post. In the 61st minute, Gábor Szalai had to receive medical attention following another hard tackle.

In the 69th minute, Attila Osváth crossed the ball into the middle, but two players failed to connect with it. It was a huge chance! The same happened in front of Dibusz’s goal in the 72nd minute, but our national team goalkeeper made a confident save on Haratjunjan’s shot from 11 meters, and did the same minutes later on Golla’s close-range header.

In the final minutes, we confidently held onto our lead, and the 2-1 victory means we’ve caught up to ETO in points and, thanks to having more wins, have returned to the top of the table. 

Next up, we’ll take the field in Győr on Sunday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. for the 30th round of the Fizz League.