After a 1-1 draw against Monaco and a group win in the UEFA Europa League, our defending Hungarian champions hosted ZTE in the 13th round of the OTP Bank League. Compared to the midweek UEL group game, our head coach Stanislav Cherchesov made several changes to the starting eleven, sending out Dibusz - Botka, Knoester, S. Mmaee, Pászka - Besic, Esiti - Marquinhos, Mercier, Tokmac - Boli.

Before kick-off, the players of both teams wore shirts proclaiming "We are one", in a gesture against racism and exclusion.

First half

We had to wait until the second minute for our first chance of the game, but Demjén confidently saved a slow ball into the middle from a corner on the right. In the ninth minute, we had a chance to counterattack after a ZTE corner, Marquinhos-Tokmac-Mercier had the ball on the way, and finally our French playmaker shot, but Demjén was alert.

Five minutes later, however, the ice was broken: Tokmac broke clear of his defender and shot inside the penalty area with his left-footed shot straight into the long bottom corner (1-0). It was the Norwegian striker's first goal of the 2022/23 season. In the 17th minute, ZTE threatened first, Ikoba's header avoided Dibusz' goal.

In the 23rd minute, the visitors attacked again, Ubochioma's shot hit the post and Samy Mmaee headed the rebound towards the corner. With just over ten minutes to go, Mercier passed to Marquinhos, the Brazilian winger fired in from a narrow angle, Demjén saved and the rebound was cleared by the defence.

Less than a minute later ZTE attacked, Ubochioma's shot was saved by Dibusz. In the last minutes of the first half, first Boli and then Pászka were in position. Our Ivory Coast striker was tackled before he could shoot, while our Hungarian left-back's attempt was blocked. There were no further chances for either side, and we went into the break with a 1-0 lead.

Second half

In the 49th minute Boli headed one of the Zalaegerszeg players, our Ivorian striker fell to the ground with need for the medical staff to arrive immediately. Soon Ryan Mmaee took his place and Zachariassen came on for Mercier. In the 56th minute Marquinhos passed after a great trick, Ryan Mmaee came on, the Moroccan international striker shot after an adjustment but Demjén saved easily.

A minute later, Ryan Mmaee's pass put Tokmac in position, his shot got past the goalkeeper but the sliding defender saved. It was not long before Tokmac's next chance came, Marquinhos tried to take a shot after Tokmac's clearance, but Demjén made a stunning save to keep out the shot.

In the 68th minute, Zachariassen took a free-kick quickly past the goalkeeper and fired into the net, but the Monaco hero was caught offside and the goal was disallowed, leaving the score 1-0. We were creating chances on the run, but after Wingo's run and centre Ryan Mmaee hit the side netting. Our Moroccan striker went one-on-one with a quarter of an hour left of normal time, but Demjén was able to get in on the attempt this time too.

Ten minutes from the end, however, he was helpless as Esiti slotted home from close range (2-0). In the 84th minute, Dibusz saved a shot from distance, but Ikoba fired the rebound into the net (2-1). After ZTE's goal, we threatened twice within a minute, but first we missed the goal after a corner, then Zachariassen's centering was inaccurate, Demjén collected the ball.

We attacked the visitors' goal in the last minutes but failed to score again, so we prepared for our last UEL group game against Trabzonspor with a 2-1 win.