Our team travelled to Soroksár in round 5 of the Merkantil Bank Liga, a match that also marked Zsolt Laczkó’s debut on the Budapest Honvéd bench. Although it always takes time for a coach to shape a team according to his own ideas, we hoped our newly appointed head coach would be successful in his first match in charge of the first team.
Of course, we could not expect an easy game for a moment. Soroksár are one of the stable sides in the second division and, regardless of their position before the match, are an opponent who make life difficult for everyone. We started the match more actively, trying mainly down the left, particularly through Barna Benczenleitner, Noel Keresztes and Zoltán Medgyes. Our first opportunity came from that side too, but Keresztes’s ball into the middle was cleared by the defenders.
The first save was then made at our end. Following a cross from the right, Kevin Korozmán tried his luck, but in the 15th minute Márk Gyetván produced a fine diving save to push away the ball heading towards the bottom-right corner. A minute later Benczenleitner fought his way almost to the edge of the six-yard box, his ball found Medgyes, who shot from seven metres, but the attempt was blocked.
It was a pity the chance went begging, and two minutes later we had even more reason to regret it when Szilárd Szabó got into a great position after a ball in behind and, despite pressure from Alex Szabó, rolled the ball past Márk Gyetván.
At that point the goal did not seem to knock the team back. In the 23rd minute, after Zalán Kerezsi’s free-kick was blocked, Dávid Holman made two feints near the right corner of the penalty area, but goalkeeper Holczer saved his shot. In the following minute the defence came to the keeper’s aid when, at the end of a move involving Keresztes, Medgyes and Holman, the latter shot while falling, only for his effort to be blocked.
In the 25th minute we then lost the ball in the middle of Soroksár’s half. The home side launched a lightning-fast counter-attack and unfortunately finished it with a goal, as Balázs Lovrencsics doubled Soroksár’s advantage. This came despite an absolutely even contest in open play – in fact, we had attacked more – but we needed to play faster and more accurately to find the net..
For the second part of the first half, with their two-goal lead secured, Soroksár focused on safety and disciplined defending. Our players kept trying, but we could not find a gap in the home defence before the break. In added time Noel Keresztes curled a dangerous ball into the middle, but Ádám Holczer got there ahead of Zalán Kerezsi, while at the other end Ákos Sigér cleared after a cross from the right.
Zsolt Laczkó made a change at half-time, with Attila Lőrinczy replacing Bence Nyitrai. The situation was clear: we had to attack, create chances and, most importantly, score goals if we wanted to return home with a point.
The first chance of the second half fell to the hosts, then Holczer comfortably held a long-range effort from Ákos Sigér, while in the 50th minute Medgyes’s dipping shot flew over the crossbar. A little over ten minutes later Medgyes also threatened with his head, glancing Dávid Holman’s cross from the left over the bar; between those two chances Márk Gyetván gathered a through ball ahead of Lovrencsics.
Midway through the half we first freshened up in attack (Simon and Kundrák replacing Kerezsi and Medgyes), but in the 68th minute Soroksár scored again almost out of nowhere. Ádám Halmai’s long-range shot found the bottom-left corner of our goal, putting Honvéd in an even more difficult position. Soroksár’s third goal also meant there were few unanswered questions left for the final twenty minutes. We continued to push forward honourably and eventually pulled one back through Attila Lőrinczy in the 87th minute.
Soroksár won 3–1. Next Sunday, Mezőkövesd visit the Bozsik Aréna.
MERKANTIL BANK LIGA, 2024/2025, ROUND 5
SOROKSÁR SC–BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC 3–1 (2–0)
Soroksár, Szamosi Mihály Sports Ground, 1,000 spectators
Ref: Bence Hanyecz (P. Kóbor, P. Garai)
Goals: Szabó Sz. (18.), Lovrencsics (25.), Halmai Á. (68.), Lőrinczy (87.)
Soroksár: Holczer – Kaján, Kékesi, Bolla G., Tavares (Say, 86.) – Szabó Sz. (Dobos, 72.), Németh E., Tóth A., Halmai Á. (Varga I., 92.) – Lovrencsics B. (Dragóner, 72.), Korozmán (Manner, 92.)
Head coach: Péter Lipcsei
Honvéd: Gyetván – Pauljevic (Szabó T., 85.), Szabó A., Ene, Benczenleitner – Nyitrai (Lőrinczy, at half-time), Sigér, Keresztes, Holman (Ihrig-Farkas, 83.) – Kerezsi (Kundrák, 65.), Medgyes (Simon B., 65.)
Head coach: Zsolt Laczkó
