Goalless draw in the derby against MTK after a frantic finale

On Sunday at 3 pm, our women's team hosted MTK Budapest at the Bozsik Aréna. Considering both teams' positions in the table and their head-to-head history, a fiercely contested derby was in the cards; the blue-and-whites went into the match in fifth place with 23 points, while our side sat sixth on 22 points. However, the significance of the league clash was not solely due to the close points battle, as we had never managed to beat the capital side before, so there was no question that we wanted to break that streak on home soil. 

The first half echoed our last meeting with MTK, as neither team created any truly dangerous chances until midway through the opening period. In the 32nd minute, Cecília Mészáros picked out Bernadett Zágor with a cross, but she failed to connect cleanly with the ball. Shortly after, Adelina Molnár whipped the ball into the box, but our goalkeeper Nikolett Krizsan gathered it with confidence. Towards the end of the half, our defender Levandrea Williams cleared following a Molnár free-kick, and then our 18-year-old goalkeeper punched clear a dangerous ball sent in by Adél Németh. In the 44th minute, Horváthová delivered a corner, but Mészáros managed to flick it away, bringing a goalless first half to a close. 

At the break, our head coach Balázs Dörnyei made one change: Hajna Vas replaced Simona Horváthová and made an excellent impact off the bench. Shortly after the substitution, Vas picked out Panna Nagy, who aimed for the top-left corner from 16 meters, but her effort flew just wide of the post. In the 54th minute, the visitors threatened: following an Adelina Molnár corner, Williams made a block, and Zágor pounced on the rebound, her low drive whistling agonisingly wide of our goal. However, we continued to carve out opportunities, with Petra Nyul’s long-range drive denied by Evelin Erős, before Anna Sain unleashed a dangerous shot after a Fanni Vachter corner. In the 74th minute, our team was inches away from breaking the deadlock: capitalizing on a mistake by Erős, Panna Nagy aimed for the empty net, but the ball shaved the outside of the post by merely centimeters. We witnessed a frantic finale, coming close to scoring multiple times in the closing stages, but Evelin Erős pulled off saves against attempts from both Vachter and Vas.

SIMPLE NŐI LIGA 2026/27, ROUND 12

Bozsik Aréna. REFEREE: Márkó Kiss (Csilla Juhász-Révész, Flóra Török) 

KISPEST–HONVÉD FC–MTK BUDAPEST 0–0 (0–0)

KISPEST–HONVÉD FC: Krizsan – Nyul, Williams, Palama, Krisztin – Sain (Borzák 70.) – Nagy P., Bozsik, Róth, Horváthová (Vas – half-time) – Vachter 

MTK Budapest: Erős – Vajda, Kern, Zágor (Farkas 70.), Csigi, Barkóczi (Simon 70.), Mészáros, Németh, Myhal (Kovács 87.), Pataki, Molnár 

Balázs Dörnyei, head coach: 

„We spent a lot of time working on our defending this week and prepared thoroughly for MTK's attacking play. I think the players executed it well, perhaps even slightly overcompensating in the sense that they were extremely disciplined, and we only committed the bare minimum to our attacking game. At half-time, they received some encouragement to be braver. We also counted on MTK eventually having to make substitutions. Based on past matches, we knew that this would be the moment to find an opening, which indeed happened in the second half. We had the opportunities to decide the match, which is very positive, as is the fact that our goalkeeper had virtually nothing to do. Hats off to the team!"

Hajna Vas: 

„The team fought tremendously; everyone put their heart and soul into the match. Perhaps we could have been a bit luckier in front of goal, but if I’m honest with myself, a draw was a fair result."