Days before the derby it was already clear that only those who acted in time would get into our final home game of the season against Vasas FC at the Bozsik Aréna. Essentially every ticket had been sold, so with safety requirements taken into account, the match could be played in front of the highest possible attendance.
There could be no complaints about either the atmosphere or the spectacle: the stands were packed with supporters dressed in red and black, and before kick-off the teams were greeted by a magnificent tifo created by the Északi Kanyar. Tamás Feczkó made three changes from the starting line-up in Szeged, with Pauljevic, Kesztyűs and Nyers replacing Zuigeber, Szamosi and Csonka, the latter two carrying minor injuries.
Our team clearly started the better. In the 10th minute we launched a dangerous counterattack, Pekár carried the ball forward and Gyurcsó shot, but Molnár produced a fine save to turn it behind for a corner. After Csontos's clever corner, Medgyes tried his luck, with Molnár alert again. In the 20th minute Nyers headed over from a Gyurcsó free-kick from the flank. Then the chances finally turned into a goal: Pekár won the ball in the Vasas half and played in Nyers, who rolled a superb finish past Molnár into the bottom-right corner (1–0). But the visitors soon won a penalty after Milán Tóth was fouled, and Urblík confidently converted from the spot (1–1). After the break the visitors created the first chance, Baráth heading wide from a free-kick in the 48th minute. Then at the other end Pekár battled for another loose ball, won it and curled a cross with the outside of his boot toward Nyers, who arrived through the middle like an express train and scored again to restore our lead (2–1). That visibly lifted our performance even further; we dominated almost throughout and kept the Angyalföld goal under pressure. In the 70th minute substitute Kállai carried the ball down the left and laid it off to Nyers, who beat his man before smashing a shot against the crossbar. Our academy player was only centimetres away from writing his name permanently into the history of a rivalry dating back to 1916: the last Honvéd player to score a hat-trick against Vasas did so in Round 2 of the 1959–60 NB I season, when Lajos Tichy scored three in a 4–2 victory.
Our head coach then made a double substitution, springing a surprise in the 78th minute by taking off two-goal Ádám Nyers and sending on Kevin Kántor. Moments later Kántor timed his run perfectly onto Csontos's corner — just as he had on his debut against Kozármisleny almost exactly a year earlier — and with his very first touch glanced the ball into the corner (3–1). Vasas posed little threat to our goal in the closing stages; if anything, our team continued to dominate, but there were no further goals. The victory moved us to within two points of the Angyalföld side, so the league title will be decided in the final round. We travel to BVSC-Zugló, while Vasas host Ajka.
MERKANTIL BANK LIGA, 2025/26, ROUND 29
BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC–Vasas FC 3–1 (1–1)
Bozsik Aréna, 6,627 spectators. Referee: Péter Antal (István Albert, Bence Belicza).
HONVÉD: Tujvel – Pauljevic, Szabó A., Csontos – Ujváry, Pekár (Szabó T., 82.), Kesztyűs (Kállai, – at half-time), Hangya – Gyurcsó (Szamosi, 78.), Nyers (Kántor, 78.), Medgyes (Pinte, 71.). Head coach: Feczkó Tamás
Vasas: Molnár – Girsik, Baráth, Iyinbor, Hei – Rab (Banó Szabó, 73.), Sztojka (Hidi M., 56.), Urblík (Horváth R., 84.) – Barkóczi (Molnár Cs., 56.), Pethő, Tóth M. (Radó, 73.) Head coach: Erős Gábor
Goals: Nyers (28., 49.), Kántor (79.), and Urblík (30. – penalty).
Tamás Feczkó:
We started the match very well, pressing aggressively and effectively, and Vasas barely got near our goal. After we took the lead, the seconds immediately afterwards did not go well for us and the visitors managed to score from a penalty. You could see during the next ten minutes that the team had been shaken a little. At half-time we changed the way we built our attacks and it worked. By the time they could have reacted to it, we had scored our second goal. Based on the second half, I would say that any team capable of creating this many and this quality of chances against Vasas fully deserves to win the match. We scored three goals, had another three huge chances and hit the post once; that says everything about the players and the unity of the team. We have picked ourselves up off the floor several times during the year, and today every one of my players again gave heart and soul, while also being very disciplined tactically. I am proud to be the coach of this team. We thank our supporters for creating such an atmosphere. I think anyone who was here today will remember both the atmosphere and the performance for a long time.
Gábor Erős:
Unfortunately there is not much else I can do than congratulate Honvéd, because today they were much better than us in every respect. I am disappointed, because I do not think I have seen my team make this many technical mistakes at any point during the entire season. Instead of playing freely, it was anything but that. For us it was a tense match full of errors. Honvéd were better than us in their play, aggression and chance creation, while we had very few opportunities. The players have given us a lot of joy during the season and we are still top of the table, but we really need to pull ourselves together for next week if we want to celebrate the league title at home. Today's performance would be nowhere near enough not only for the title but even for promotion. I feel sorry for our supporters, because so many travelled with us and they surely did not expect this. What hurts most is not even the defeat, but the way we played.
