A hugely important match awaited our team in Round 20 of the Merkantil Bank Liga, as Soroksár, who were four points ahead of us in the table before the round, visited the Bozsik Arena.
Péter Lipcsei was unable to take his place on the bench due to suspension, with Attila Farkas replacing him for this match. Tamás Feczkó made four changes from the starting line-up in Ajka, three of them in midfield: Branko Pauljevic, Ádám Szamosi, Dominik Csontos and Noel Keresztes all came into the side. The changes had the desired effect. In the 6th minute, following a Csontos corner, Alex Szabó superbly 'scooped' the ball, which ended up in the top-left corner (1-0).
In the 11th minute Csonka headed Hangya's cross centimetres over the bar. In the 26th minute Mergl had to stretch to his full height to tip Hangya's header over the crossbar, then after the corner Keresztes sent an acrobatic effort narrowly wide. After just under half an hour, Hangya again fought for a ball and then crossed, with Keresztes only just failing to connect. In the 33rd minute Alex Szabó 'put Hangya to work', and the visiting players challenged him inside the penalty area in a manner that was at least debatable, but no penalty was awarded. Barely a minute later Keresztes was again at the heart of the action, brilliantly sending Medgyes through on goal, but Króner produced a huge last-ditch intervention. In the 38th minute Hangya was busy again on the left, but Mergl was alert to his close-range effort. In the 40th minute the Bozsik rang out after Erik Németh smashed a shot against the crossbar, but it did not unsettle our team in the slightest: in the 42nd minute Hangya again created an opening for Keresztes, who from point-blank range came within a whisker of forcing the ball over the goal line.
In added time Mergl made a superb save from Csontos's free kick, then an atmosphere already stretched to breaking point by the stakes reached boiling point when Halmai caught the head of the otherwise excellent Hangya. The referee, however, sent the teams to the dressing rooms without any particular sanction.
Our captain had to be substituted by Tamás Feczkó at half-time, with István Pekár taking his place. In the 52nd minute, after a cross from the left, Balázs Lovrencsics equalised (1-1). Two minutes later another Csontos corner caused danger, with Mergl tipping Baki's header onto the bar. Tamás Feczkó made changes, sending on Kevin Kántor and Ádám Somogyi, but after a little over an hour the visitors released Szilárd Szabó down the right, and he fired into the near top corner from close range (1-2).
Then in the 78th minute Kántor timed his arrival perfectly onto Szabó's cross, and his shot deflected off the leg of the desperately covering Króner and into the net (2-2). The real magic, however, was still to come. In the 84th minute, Kántor met a loose ball with an unstoppable bicycle kick into the bottom-left corner – in a manner that would have done Brazilian players proud – to make it (3-2) and secure three vital points for the team.
The results elsewhere in the round mean that seven (!) teams are now separated by just two points. Our team travel to Mezőkövesd next week.
Tamás Feczkó, head coach:
We played very well in the first half and, besides the goal, had several chances when we could have settled the three points. However, Soroksár showed their strength by playing excellent football in the second half. Even in such difficult circumstances, my team managed to turn the match around, which clearly illustrates their mental strength. The biggest positive today is that we did not panic even when we were behind and kept pushing for victory until the end, for ourselves and for our supporters, who created a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium.
Dejan Milovanovics, assistant coach:
Congratulations to Honvéd on the victory! In the first half we conceded immediately from the first set piece, even though we knew what Honvéd's strengths were. The goal unsettled the team and we were unable to play effective attacking football in the first half. At half-time we came out with a different approach and tactics, and that led to our two goals. I am sorry the end of the match turned out this way.
BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC–SOROKSÁR SC 3–2 (1–0)
Bozsik Arena, 3,127 spectators.
Ref.: Imre Kovács (Balázs Szalay, Csaba Baghy).
BUDAPEST HONVÉD: Tujvel – Szabó A., Baki, Csonka – Pauljevic, Szamosi (Somogyi 60.), Csontos, Hangya (Pekár 46.) – Pinte (Vernes (89.), Keresztes (Kántor 60.), Medgyes (Sigér 92.). Head coach: Tamás Feczkó
SOROKSÁR SC: Mergl – Nagy O., Króner, Say (Dhonata 46.), Csemer (Tumma 46.) – Szabó Sz. (Manner 77.), Németh E., Vass Á., Halmai (Kundrák 77.) – Korozmán, Lovrencsics B. Head coach: Attila Farkas
Goals: Szabó A. (6.), Króner (76. - own goal), Kántor (84.); for Soroksár Lovrencsics (52.), Szabó (63.).
Match highlights:
