After a long break, the ball was rolling again in the Merkantil Bank Liga, with our team hosting Budafoki MTE, who stood eighth before the round, at the Bozsik Aréna. Márk Nikházi named two former Honvéd players in the visitors' starting line-up: Gellért Dúzs, who spent the autumn season out on loan, and our former captain Dávid Kálnoki-Kis.
Tamás Feczkó was able to lead Honvéd in a competitive match for the first time, with new signings Gergő Rácz, Dominik Csontos and Patrik Pinte all starting.
We had to wait until the sixth minute for the first serious chance, when Vasvári shot from the left side of the penalty area, but his effort went well wide. In the 10th minute Patrik Szűcs controlled the ball 16-17 metres from goal and his powerful shot ended up in the net (0-1). After a little over a quarter of an hour Honvéd raised the tempo, with crosses from Bévárdi and Hangya repeatedly creating opportunities, while the visitors' defence also had trouble on several occasions with the runs of Pinte and Medgyes. Yet Budafok were the more dangerous side. In the 21st minute Sztojka's attempt from 30 metres went well wide, but three minutes later Zuigéber dribbled down the right and picked out Rétyi brilliantly in the middle, who volleyed the ball into the bottom left corner (0-2).
Sztojka's appetite for shooting did not fade at all, and in the 27th minute his next long-range effort was on target, with Rácz making a superb save. In the remainder of the half Medgyes had our best opportunity to pull one back, but his shot flew over the bar. After the restart, in the 51st minute Bévárdi cut inside and tried to curl the ball into the far corner, but the visiting defenders managed to block at the last moment. Five minutes later Vasvári found himself in a huge chance; perhaps even he was surprised, because his shot was very poor. Tamás Feczkó made a double substitution, with Ihrig-Farkas replacing Pauljevics and Ákos Baki coming on for Sigér, and this brought some momentum to our play. In the 64th minute Dúzs misplaced a pass near his own penalty area, which Ihrig-Farkas reacted to sharply before passing to Medgyes arriving in the middle. Dúzs made two outstanding saves, but the ball fell to Pinte, who calmly passed it into the centre of the goal (1-2). Our 28-year-old player therefore marked his competitive Honvéd debut with a goal. In the 82nd minute Ihrig-Farkas headed Csontos's cross wide. Budafok completely gave up attacking in the closing stages, but apart from a Bévárdi shot over the bar Honvéd were unable to create another serious chance either.
Tamás Feczkó's assessment:
„We started the match well, but the visitors took the lead in the 10th minute with a very fine long-range shot. That came as a shock to us. Despite our territorial superiority and despite getting many balls into the penalty area, unfortunately the opposition goalkeeper only had to make a save for our goal. We created very few chances and attacked the crosses poorly. We need much more than this in attack going forward.”
Márk Nikházi's assessment:
„We left our hearts and souls on the pitch. We played good football against a team that we hope will beat all their opponents. We managed to defeat a very good team, moreover away from home. This is a major achievement for us.”
MERKANTIL BANK LIGA, ROUND 16
BUDAPEST HONVÉD FC–Budafoki MTE 1–2 (0–2)
Bozsik Aréna, 2574 spectators. Referee: Ádám Pillók (Viktor Nagy, Kevin Ring).
Budapest Honvéd: Rácz – Pauljevics (Ihrig-Farkas 58.), Szabó A., Csontos – Bévárdi, Somogyi (Szamosi 77.), Sigér (Baki 58.), Hangya (csk.) – Medgyes (Holman 77.), Farkas (Keresztes 86.), Pinte.
Head coach: Tamás Feczkó
Budafoki MTE: Dúzs – Lorentz, Kálnoki-Kis, Oláh, Horváth O. (Merényi 75.) – Németh M., Sztojka, Zuigéber (Nándori 75.) – Szűcs, Vasvári (Elek 86.), Rétyi (Kovács D. 86.).
Head coach: Márk Nikházi
Goals: Pinte (64.), and Szűcs (16.), Rétyi (25.).
You can watch the highlights of the match here:
