In excellent football weather and backed by around five hundred supporters from Kispest, we travelled to Szeged for Sunday's Round 27 match of the Merkantil Bank Liga. Our team went into the game in excellent form, unbeaten in the last five matches and drawing only once in that run, while Szeged had beaten promotion-chasing Kazincbarcika 4–1 at home on Monday. Following the principle of 'never change a winning team', Tamás Feczkó sent out the same starting eleven as in the previous round.
However, the home side created a clear chance in the very first minute and Tujvel made a huge save. Although our goalkeeper stayed on for another quarter of an hour after that intervention, he had to be substituted because of injury in the 16th minute. For most of the opening half-hour we were the dominant side, with Bévárdi repeatedly looking dangerous. In the 6th minute Szamosi was brought down inside the penalty area in a questionable challenge, but referee Nagy's whistle stayed silent. In the 19th minute first Bévárdi and then Csontos shot at goal, but blue-and-black defenders blocked both efforts at the last moment. In the 25th minute the home side had a free kick from a good position, and Borvető's attempt flew only centimetres over Rácz's goal. A minute later Csontos crossed, the loose ball fell to Szamosi, whose shot was brilliantly saved by Veszelinov. In the 33rd minute Keresztes aimed for the far corner but his effort went centimetres wide of the right post. The final action of first-half stoppage time was a Szeged counter and a shot from Papp, but the home midfielder's effort did not seriously threaten Rácz's goal.
The first serious chance after the restart came in the 52nd minute when Medgyes tried his luck, but the Szeged defence managed to clear at the last moment. In the 54th minute we led another dangerous counter-attack; after Medgyes's pass, Kántor's shot was saved by Veszelinov. Three minutes later Bévárdi tried something audacious: his free kick from the halfway line almost found the top-left corner, but Veszelinov was alert and tipped the ball behind. That may have been the easier of his saves, because after a Csontos corner Alex Szabó was completely unmarked at the far post and Veszelinov had to make a huge stop. In the 71st minute Szabó put Bévárdi into an excellent position facing goal, but the Szeged defence managed to block again. Although we continued to dominate and had most of the possession, with Ákos Baki directing the defence superbly, we lacked precision in the final actions in attack.
Our team host Kazincbarcika at the Bozsik Arena on Monday, May 12, from 20:00.
MERKANTIL BANK LIGA, ROUND 27
Szeged-Csanád Grosics Akadémia–BUDAPEST HONVÉD 0–0 (0–0)
Szeged, Szent Gellért Fórum, 1,287 spectators. Referee: Nagy Róbert (Berényi Ákos, Punyi Gyula).
Szeged: Veszelinov – Sándor, Szilágyi, Pejovic, Novák – Papp (Vogyicska, 56.), Márkvárt, Palincsár (Erdei, 56.), Mohos (Kurdics, 84.) – Kotula, Borvető (Varga, 72.). Head coach: Alekszandar Jovics.
BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC: Tujvel (Rácz, 16.) – Szabó A., Baki, Csontos – Bévárdi, Pekár (Csilus, 82), Szamosi (Somogyi, 82.), Hangya – Keresztes (Pinte, 67.), Kántor (Vernes, 67.), Medgyes. Head coach: Feczkó Tamás
Tamás Feczkó:
We played against a team that plays very good football and, thanks to our supporters, it essentially felt like another home match for us. Tactically both teams prepared well for the other. We played very well; in my coaching career I have rarely seen a team clear the ball off the goal line or make last-ditch saves this many times. Of course, you can also interpret that as us not converting our chances. I am frustrated because based on the flow of the game we should have won this match by several goals.
