Following Wednesday’s progression in the Hungarian Cup, another important match awaited our team, this time in the league as we went in search of victory. Tamás Feczkó made several unexpected changes: compared with the starting XI at Budafok, he altered three positions and sent out two strikers. After the first match in Kecskemét was abandoned, Ádám Nyers was named in the starting eleven for the first time, while Patrik Pinte, who had provided an assist against ESMTK, effectively “made his debut as a right wing-back”. Dominik Csontos also returned to league action after his suspension, having already featured in the cup. Meanwhile, Ádám Gyurcsó and Kevin Varga had recovered and were able to take places on the bench. The stakes had risen further: Vasas had won 1–0 at Békéscsaba in the first, afternoon fixture of the round, while fellow pursuers Mezőkövesd, Kecskemét and Csákvár had all suffered multi-goal defeats against their respective opponents.
We quickly took the initiative. We did not have to wait even nine minutes for the first serious chance: Medgyes cut inside from the left and shot, but missed the target. Two minutes later Patrik Nyári played a perfectly weighted ball to Tollár Imre, and although Alex Szabó tried to lift the ball clear, it went over Tujvel and crossed the goal line (0–1). In the 36th minute Nyers won a free kick in a good position. Szamosi took it, and Kostyák produced a superb save to tip our young player’s excellent effort onto the crossbar. Near the end of the half, Csontos first went close when he hit a dropping ball first time after a throw-in, missing by centimetres. A few moments later – much like his move against ESMTK – Hangya dribbled down the left and shot after a brilliant solo run; the ball deflected off the leg of Dinnyés and ended up in the net (1–1).
Only 18 seconds after the restart we created our first opportunity: Medgyes and Hangya combined nicely on the left, and Nyers reacted fastest to our captain’s cross, but could no longer direct the ball and it went out over the byline. In the 55th minute Nyers was pushed inside the penalty area, but Zimmermann’s whistle remained silent. In the 60th minute the ball cannoned off Kántor’s body onto the crossbar. Three minutes later our leading scorer Csontos struck: after Kántor’s 'long throw' the ball fell to our defender, who did not hesitate and fired first time into the bottom-left corner, giving Kostyák no chance (2–1). It was our 23-year-old defender’s ninth league goal of the season. The visitors made substitutions, which gave them some impetus: first Szilágyi headed narrowly wide, then Nyári tested Tujvel from distance, but our goalkeeper saved confidently. In the 84th minute Pinte produced a superb outside-of-the-foot pass for Gyurcsó, but Kostyák was well positioned to stop the shot. The score did not change, so three hugely important points went next to our name. The victory increased our lead over Mezőkövesd to eight points and restored the three-point advantage over Vasas that we had before the round.
MERKANTIL BANK LIGA 2025/26, ROUND 18
BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC–Szentlőrinc 2–1 (1–1)
Bozsik Aréna, 2,439 spectators. Referee: Márió Zimmermann (Dávid Rózsa, Szabin Topálszki).
HONVÉD: Tujvel – Szabó A., Baki, Csontos – Pinte, Szabó T. (Kesztyűs, 83.), Szamosi, Hangya (Varga B., 76.) – Medgyes (Gyurcsó, 83.), Kántor (Zuigeber, 64.), Nyers (Ujváry, 76.). Head coach: Tamás Feczkó
Szentlőrinc: Kostyák – Szivacski, Dinnyés, Poór, Milovanovic (Márta, 72.), Kiss-Szemán (Czérna, 72.) – Nyári, Rac (Szilágyi, 66.) – Kocsis B., Tollár – Adamcsek (Mascoe, 66.). Head coach: Ede Visinka
G: Dinnyés (45+1 – own goal), Csontos (63.), and Tollár (11.)
Tamás Feczkó: We started the match well and already had a chance in the second minute. We reacted well to the visitors’ goal, and in the first half we missed a huge number of well-worked chances – enough to have won two or three matches. In the final minute of the first half, we badly needed a sensational piece of play from our captain so that we would not go into the break behind. That was a decisive moment in the match. After the restart we scored the second goal quickly, and perhaps we had chances for a third. At the end Tujvel also had to make saves, and we have to look at that realistically. The scoreline does not reflect it, but based on the pattern of the game I feel this was a convincing victory. It shows the strength of the team that whoever steps onto the pitch can contribute, and everyone is focused on our common goal.
Ede Visinka: Congratulations to Honvéd on a deserved victory!4 Our match plan worked for 45 minutes and 50 seconds: we scored a goal and held the lead, although it is true that we had no other chance in the first half because Honvéd had so much possession. I am proud of the lads because they fought heroically and our goalkeeper had to make several big saves. I regret the goal we conceded in the final second of the first half, because if we had gone into the break ahead, the pitch would have opened up for us earlier. We were under pressure in the second half as well, then Csontos scored from a loose ball after a long throw. We took risks while trailing and became more dangerous; Tujvel also made some big saves. We had chances, but our opponents could have decided the match on the counterattack, missing two or three clear opportunities. I feel that on the basis of the team’s heroic fight we would have deserved a draw, but this time it did not happen.
Match highlights:
