After Sunday's match against Kecskemét was abandoned, we faced another purple-and-white side on Thursday morning as we travelled to Újpest. Tamás Feczkó made major changes compared with the line-up that had become almost standard in league matches: Gellért Dúzs, Ferenc Ujváry, Ákos Sigér and Barna Kesztyűs all had the chance to prove themselves, while our academy's youth international defender Áron Russnák was named in the starting line-up for the first time.
The hosts converted their first chance in the 10th minute. After Duarte's free kick, Bese and then our academy's former player Bence Gergényi Bence reacted quicker than our defenders, with the latter firing the ball under the crossbar and giving Dúzs no chance (1–0). After a quarter of an hour Matko ran onto Tajti's pass and found himself one-on-one following a possible offside situation, but Dúzs saved confidently.
In the 23rd minute we produced a wonderful move. Csontos started the attack and brought Hangya into play, then the ball travelled through our captain Sigér and Kántor. Our forward, returning from injury, used a brilliant backheel to put Pinte through, and he did not hesitate, smashing the ball into the right corner (1–1)!
On the half-hour Matko again found himself in a big chance, Russnák defended well and Dúzs was able to gather the ball relatively comfortably. In the 43rd minute Kántor held the ball up superbly and dribbled inside the penalty area; Kaczvinszki challenged our forward in a debatable manner, but Iványi's whistle remained silent.
Five minutes into the second half Újpest took a short corner, after which our former defender Krisztián Tamás struck from more than 30 metres and the ball crashed in under the crossbar, restoring Újpest's lead (2–1).
We then had several opportunities to equalise. The hosts blocked an indirect free kick and Varga headed wide after a corner. In the 64th minute Újpest came close to extending their lead when, at the end of a fine move, Ganea hit the post from a tight angle. After 76 minutes Varga delivered an excellent cross and Hetyei headed over. In the remaining time our set pieces posed the greatest threat to the Újpest goal, but there were no further goals.
Our next match is away to Móri SE on 13 September in the third round of the Hungarian Cup.
FRIENDLY
Újpest FC–BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC 2–1 (1–1)
Újpest, Szusza Ferenc Stadium. Behind closed doors. Referee: Gábor Iványi (Gergely Becséri, Dávid Rózsa).
Újpest:
1st half: Dombó – Bese, Ademi, Gergényi, Duarte (Kaczvinszki, 25.) – Matko, Lacoux (Geiger, 28.), Rasak, Tajti – Medeiros, Tucic.
2nd half: Dombó – Nunes, Bese (Gergényi, 65.), Kaczvinszki, Tamás K. – Ademi, Geiger, Goncalves (Bese, 69.) – Ganea, Medeiros –Matko (Tajti, 75.).
Head coach: Damir Krznar.
HONVÉD:
1st half: Dúzs – Ujváry, Russnák, Baki, Csontos, Hangya – Sigér Á., Kesztyűs – Kállai K., Pinte, Kántor.
2nd half: Rácz – Szabó Á., Pauljevic, Csonka, Pekár, Varga B. – Sigér (Szamosi, 71.), Kesztyűs (Balázs, 71.) – Hetyei, Ihrig-Farkas, Pinte (Kovács E., 66).
Head coach: Feczkó Tamás
G: Gergényi (10.), Tamás (50.), while Pinte (23.).
You can watch the match back here:
