Hungarian Football League – Round 16: Ferencváros lose 34-game unbeaten record – VIDEOS

A 32nd-minute goal from veteran former Hungary international striker Sándor Torghelle gave MTK a 1-0 home victory over Ferencváros this weekend, thereby ending the Green Eagles’ unbeaten start to the season and their record of 34 league matches without defeat.

The 208th derby between the two capital city teams saw Fradi start the better and it was only thanks to MTK goalkeeper Lajos Hegedűs that his team stayed on level terms. Even when he was beaten by Zoltán Gera’s header and Tamás Hajnal’s shot, the woodwork came to MTK’s rescue. The home team came back into the contest though and took the lead in the 32nd minute, József Kanta’s free-kick finding Torghelle free ten metres from goal and he finished with aplomb past Fradi keeper Dénes Dibusz. Thomas Doll’s side were shaken back into shape by the concession of that goal and dominated the rest of the match but they couldn’t create clear chances and MTK could even have scored again on the counter-attack. The result stayed the same though and that allowed second-placed Paks to gain ground on NBI leaders Ferencváros.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Paks were at home to rivals in the league table Szombathelyi Haladás but the first half was a cagey affair, neither side fashioning any clear chances. That changed after the break though when Bence Lenzsér finished a clever free-kick routine to put Paks a goal to the good in the 49th minute. The game subsequently opened up and both sides had chances to change the scoreline but it wasn’t until the 85th minute that another goal was scored, Bálint Bajner receiving the ball on the edge of the area and securing the home win with a lob over Haladás goalkeeper Gábor Király. Paks are now on an eight-match unbeaten run while Haladás now slip to fifth in the NBI table.

Haladás’ drop in position is due to MTK’s aforementioned shock victory but also because Debreceni VSC took all three points from their clash with Diosgyőr in the Nagyerdei Stadion. This was despite the away team starting more positively, Vladimir Koman and Soma Novothny both being thwarted by Debrecen goalkeeper Bozidar Radosevic. Diosgyőr didn’t give up and continued to attack but it was Loki who took a first-half lead, Ibrahima Sidibe breaking the offside trap and slotting the ball into the bottom corner of the net. The away team tried to recover but neither Koman nor Novothny were able to capitalise on further chances so Debrecen took a hard-earned victory and with it, fourth place in the league.