Tamás Feczkó's side took the lead in the first half after Branko Pauljevic capitalised on José Calderón's error and fired into the top-left corner. Our opponents equalised through Joao Victor at the very end to send the tie into extra time. The visitors then took the lead, before substitute Ádám Szamosi headed into the net in the 101st minute to keep alive our hopes of reaching the cup final. The tie remained undecided after the two 15-minute periods, so penalties followed. ZTE won the shootout 5–4 and advanced to the final.
It is very difficult to assess what we saw, because tactically, physically and emotionally the team gave everything. We dominated the entire first half and deservedly took the lead. In the second half we dropped a little deeper defensively so that there would be space for our counterattacks. Our opponents had more of the ball, and I am disappointed that we did not finish our counters the way we should have. We had perhaps one big opportunity from which we could have scored and killed the game. We were 80 seconds away from winning the match, and mentally it is particularly difficult when the opponent equalises at a moment like that” our head coach said at the post-match press conference.
Very few teams are capable of recovering from that mental state, but the boys showed how strong they are mentally, and the supporters stood by us through the most difficult moments. A positive was that in the second half of extra time, after our second goal, we controlled the match. It is frustrating, however, that although we got behind the defensive line, we could not create a truly big chance. Congratulations to Zalaegerszeg.
MOL HUNGARIAN CUP, 2025/26, SEMI-FINAL
BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC–Zalaegerszegi TE 2–2 (1–0) – penalties: 4–5
Bozsik Arena, 5450 spectators. Referee: Dr. Bence Csonka (Gergő Vígh-Tarsonyi, Balázs Szalai).
HONVÉD: Dúzs – Csonka (Ujváry, 90+9.), Szabó A., Csontos – Pauljevic, Pekár (Szamosi, 66.), Kesztyűs (Szabó T., 66.), Hangya – Gyurcsó, Pinte (Zuigeber, 70.), Medgyes (Nyers, 90+9.). Head coach: Tamás Feczkó
ZTE: Mauricio – Csonka A. (Bitca, 73.), Akpe, Várkonyi (D. Silva, 118.), Calderón (D. Cedillo, 119.) – Amato (Daniel Lima, 73.), Szendrei, Kiss B. – Skribek, Joao Victor (Elosú, 90+8.), Maxsuell (Alfonso, 79.). Head coach: Nuno Campos
Goals: Pauljevic (44.), Szamosi (102.); Joao Victor (90+3.), Alfonso (92.)
