In Round 3 of the league we travelled to Szentlőrinc, who were also still unbeaten. Tamás Feczkó was still unable to call on Kevin Kántor and Ádám Gyurcsó because of injury, but based on recent weeks there was no doubt that the team's biggest absentee was István Pekár, whose father passed away on Thursday. The scorching heat and the late Sunday kick-off did not dampen the spirits of the Honvéd supporters at all, and the away sector of barely 250 places filled easily in Szentlőrinc.
The match did not start well. Our experienced defender in good form, Branko Pauljevic, had to be substituted through injury as early as the seventh minute, with new signing Kevin Kállai taking his place. In the 14th minute Medgyes found himself in a great position but fired over from close range.
In the opening quarter of an hour, Hangya's crosses caused the home defenders the most difficulty. In the 18th minute the hosts managed to break down the right side of our defence. After the cross, Bőle shot and our defence blocked the effort, but the ball fell to Nyári, who blasted it powerfully into the middle of the goal (1–0). It was the first league goal Tomás Tujvel had conceded since 14 April (Merkantil Bank Liga 2024-25, Round 24, Budapest Honvéd–Gyirmót FC Győr 2–1).
In the 21st minute Zuigeber's free kick curled dangerously in front of goal, and Baki missed by only centimetres as the ball went wide of the right post. In the 28th minute Kállai's cross found Medgyes, somewhat surprisingly lurking in the danger area, but Poór made a self-sacrificing intervention at the very last moment, effectively clearing from the goal line.
In the 38th minute, after a throw-in, Szamosi moved away and brilliantly played Medgyes into position, before Szolgai brought him down inside the penalty area. Csontos stepped up to take the penalty, and although Gyurján guessed the direction, our 22-year-old defender confidently found the bottom-left corner (1–1). There was another big moment at the end of the half, and it could have been even bigger – after Csontos's free kick, Szamosi headed against the crossbar. The first major opportunity after the restart fell to the hosts, when Ambach went one-on-one with Tujvel, but our defenders slid in to block the shot just in time.
Then in the 72nd minute our team launched a fine counterattack. The move started with Zuigeber, then Kállai centred for Zuigeber arriving in the second wave, but he missed the ball by a fraction. Not so a moment later: Kállai again got down the right flank and delivered an excellent cross, with Medgyes arriving ahead of everyone at the perfect moment and giving Gyurján no chance (1–2). Last season's most prolific Honvéd player thus scored his first goal of the current campaign – and it later proved to be worth three points. Two minutes before the end of normal time Czérna aimed for the top-left corner, but his shot missed Tujvel's goal. In stoppage time, Hetyei's dribbling sequence and ball across goal, followed by another chance, caused some nervous moments, but there was no further goal. Tamás Feczkó's team remain the only side with a perfect record and lead the league. Next week we travel to Ajka in Round 4 of the Merkantil Bank Liga.
MERKANTIL BANK LIGA 2025/26, ROUND 3
SZENTLŐRINC SE–BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC 1–2 (1–1)
Szentlőrinc, Szentlőrinc SE Sporttelep, 1,100 spectators. Referee: Attila Molnár (Tamás Kulman, Zsolt Király)
HONVÉD: Tujvel – Pauljevic (Kállai, 7.) (Csonka, 84.), Szabó A., Baki, Csontos, Hangya – Szamosi Á. Somogyi Á. – Zuigeber (Hetyei, 84.), Pinte (Sigér, 76.), Medgyes (Ihrig-Farkas, 76.). Head coach: Tamás Feczkó
Szentlőrinc: Gyurján – Szivacski, Dinyés, Poór (Milovanovic, 68.), Márta – Bőle (Kiss-Szemán – at half-time), Szolgai, Nyári (Kesztyűs, 73.), Ambach – Nagy R. (Czérna, 61.), Adamcsek.
Head coach: Róbert Waltner
Goals: Nyári (18.), and Csontos (40. – penalty), Medgyes (73).
Tamás Feczkó, head coach:
I would like to congratulate every player who took the field. Both teams played a good match in difficult conditions. I am very proud of my players that we managed to turn the game around and win against a very good team. Even when the opponent was leading, I did not see panic in any of my players. Winning today's match meant more to us; we absolutely wanted to win this game for Peki and his family, which is another reason I am proud of the boys.
