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.

Sixth position in NBI now belongs to a resurgent Videoton FC who defeated struggling Vasas 2-0 at home with first-half goals from two young Hungarian hopes for the future, István Kovács and Ádám Gyurcsó. Vasas had started well but couldn’t take their chances, something which Vidi found to be no problem as Kovács scored a fine individual goal before Gyurcsó’s pinpoint free-kick put Ferenc Horváth’s team two goals up, a lead they held onto without much of a problem.

Vasas have now fallen to the bottom of NBI courtesy of Békéscsaba’s 2-1 home victory over another struggling team, Puskás Akadémia. Zoran Spisljak’s team had fallen behind to a sixth-minute Branko Pauljevic strike but Zsolt Laczkó equalised almost immediately before Slavko Damjanovic struck the winner for Békéscsaba in the 53rd minute to take his team to 11 points, one away from their defeated opponents, five points behind Diosgyőr and six behind Honvéd whose worrying run of form continued.

The team from Kispest lost again, this time at home against Budapest rivals Újpest who took a second-half lead through Mbaye Diagne and extended it thanks to Kylian Hazard’s fine strike, holding on for victory despite late Honvéd pressure and a goal in the 81st minute from central defender Dávid Bobál. Újpest now occupy seventh spot, level on points with Videoton and just four points away from third place which represents qualification for the UEFA Europa League next season.

Next weekend is the 17th round and sees Vasas take on fellow strugglers Puskás Akadémia at the Illovszky stadion while Honvéd entertain Békéscsaba, Haladás host Újpest, Paks travel to Diosgyőr, MTK make the trip to Videoton and Ferencváros look to get back to winning ways at home to Debrecen.

Photo: MTI

Source: mlsz.hu