In Round 8 of the OTP Bank Liga we travelled to Felcsút, home of the league leaders. The away end was full, while Honvéd supporters were also in the majority in the home sections, backing our team almost non-stop from the first minute. Maurizio Jacobacci made just one change to the starting XI from Győr, with Tamás Somogyi coming in for Ákos Zuigeber, just as he had in the Hungarian Cup match in Baja.
In the 12th minute, a defensive error presented the hosts with a big chance: after a pass from Zsolt Nagy, Palkó Dárdai tried to place the ball into the corner, but Osman Hadzikic – producer of August's best save – made a superb stop. In the 16th minute, following a corner from Palkó Dárdai, Felcsút's leading scorer András Németh headed into our net from close range (0–1). In the 24th minute, after a Dárdai free-kick from the flank, Zsolt Nagy glanced the ball on and it fortuitously dropped right in front of Orján, who passed it into the right corner (2–0). After a little over half an hour our team began to come alive. Tamás Somogyi had an effort that the home defenders were still able to block, but in the 38th minute, after a Csontos corner, Felcsút failed to clear and Kállai tested Lehoczki from distance; his shot deflected off Harutyunyan and ended up in the net (2–1). In the 44th minute the ball went from Ádám Somogyi to Tamás Somogyi and then Eddarraj. Our Moroccan midfielder aimed for the top-left corner but missed by centimetres. After the restart we took the initiative. First Csontos curled an effort from twenty metres, with the ball going over the crossbar. In the 58th minute PAFC launched a dangerous attack: Dárdai battled his way into the penalty area before Németh fired from close range, but Baki threw himself in front of the goal-bound shot and blocked it at the last moment. A minute later we produced another fine move: after a combination between Alic and Hangya down the left, the latter laid the ball off to Csontos, whose shot was kept out by Lehoczki with an astonishing reflex save. In the 66th minute the home side punished a defensive mistake: Kern sent Dárdai clean through and he calmly rolled the ball past Hadzikic (3–1). In the 73rd minute a Csontos free-kick raised our hopes, then three minutes later Lehoczki punched Pauljevic's long-range thunderbolt away from the corner. In the 88th minute, after a Pauljevic cross, Pekár headed goalwards, but another huge save from Lehoczki preserved Felcsút's two-goal advantage. Neither side managed to create another major chance in the closing stages, so we left Felcsút empty-handed. The international break now gives us a chance to regroup; our next OTP Bank Liga match will be on October 11, when we host Újpest FC from 16:45.
OTP BANK LIGA, ROUND 8, 2026-27
PAFC–KISPEST–HONVÉD FC 3–1 (2–1)
Felcsút, Pancho Aréna, 1,400 spectators. Referee: Márton Rúsz (István Albert, Gergő Vígh-Tarsonyi).
PAFC: Lehoczki – Orján (Varga Zs., 88.), Golla, Haratyunan, Ormonde Ottewill – Dárdai (Vékony, 77.), Okeke (Brugger, 88.), Kern, Nagy Zs. (Farkas, 88.) – Németh A. (Colley, 73.), Lukács. Head coach: Levente Babó
HONVÉD: Hadzikic – Kállai (Pauljevic, 67.), Baki, Boldor, Hangya – Csontos, Somogyi Á. (Pekár, 67.) – Somogyi T. (Kántor, 67.), Szamosi (Szabó A., 88.), Eddarraj (P. García, – at half-time) – Alic. Head coach: Maurizio Jacobacci
Goals: Németh A. (16.), Orján (24.), Dárdai (66.), and Harutyunyan, (38. – own goal).
Maurizio Jacobacci:
Anyone who saw the match could clearly see that the home side controlled the game in the first 20–25 minutes. We made mistakes, particularly at the two set pieces. That is why we changed things, switched to 4-4-2, pressed them and managed to unsettle their centre-backs. The home side did not really have an answer to that. We scored and from that point until 3–1 there was only one team on the pitch, and that was Kispest–Honvéd. Their goalkeeper kept them in it with several saves and we could not equalise. We gifted our opponents the third goal. I think a draw was much more likely at that stage of the match. Congratulations to our opponents on taking the three points. We have to learn from the mistakes we made in this match and in the previous one.
Levente Babó:
Of the first eight rounds, this was our best first half so far. After we conceded, the match became open again and Honvéd could even have equalised. The goal we conceded, however, kept us focused right to the end. Before the season I would not have thought that after eight rounds we would be top of the table.
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