Hungarian league, 17th round: Videton home in on Vasas at the top of NB I

League leaders Vasas FC lost a tight game 2-1 away at Budapest Honvéd in the 17th round of Hungary’s OTP Bank League to suffer their first league defeat since 21st September and extend their winless sequence to four matches.

Budapest Honvéd 2–1 Vasas FC (0–0)

Bozsik Stadium, 2980 spectators, ref: Iványi
Goalscorers: HON: Nagy G. (81. own goal), Eppel (92.), VAS: Pavlov (71.)
Yellow cards: HON: Lovric (32.), Holender (50.), VAS: Remili (34.), Burmeister (62.), Pavlov (85.), Ristevski (90.)

Honvéd: Gróf – Lovric, Bobál D. (Prosser, 73.), Kamber – Ikenne-King (Vasiljevic, 83.), Gazdag, Hidi, Koszta (Zsótér, 74.) – Holender, Eppel, Lanzafame

Vasas: Nagy G. – Burmeister, Vaskó, Ristevski – Korcsmár – Berecz, Vida, Hangya – Murka (Kleisz, 87.), Pavlov, Remili (Czvitkovics, 88.)

The first half was characterised by the home team’s superiority and the chances they created, largely for Davide Lanzafame, but they couldn’t take advantage. By contrast, Vasas were largely on the defensive and didn’t create much of note, a situation which didn’t change after the break until the visitors’ Pavlov put the ball in the back of the net following a free-kick. Honvéd equalised within ten minutes though, away goalkeeper Gergely Nagy only able to divert a Dániel Prosser cross into his own net, and it was to worsen for the team from Angyalföld, Márton Eppel slotting in a free-kick in the last minute to claim all three points for Marco Rossi’s team.

Újpest FC 1–1 Mezőkövesd-Zsóry FC (0–0)

Kecskemét, 700 spectators, ref: Andó-Szabó
Goalscorers: ÚJP: Andric (51., 11. pen), MEZ: Pauljevic (55.)
Yellow cards: Windecker (42.), MEZ: Pauljevic (62.), Tujvel (91.)

Újpest: Banai – Heris, Windecker, Kecskés, Mohl – Cseke, Bardhi (Nagy T., 69.) – Balázs B., Balogh, Andric – Lázok (Perovic, 69.)

Mezőkövesd: Tujvel – Vági, Hudák, Szeles, Gohér – Mevongou – Kink (Tóth, 79.), Molnár (Vosahlik, 87.), Hegedűs (Bacelic-Grgic, 54.), Pauljevic – Strestík

The game was balanced in the first half although Mezőkövesd probably shaded it in terms of attacking threat, only being denied a lead by an assistant’s offside flag. Újpest offered occasional danger but the half-time break arrived with th game still goalless.

There was early drama in the second period though, Újpest being awarded a penalty which Andric confidently dispatched before Pauljevic restored parity for the visitors just four minutes later. There were chances to take a lead for both sides but neither could find the net again, Újpest and Mezőkövesd therefore extending their recent unbeaten runs to nine and seven matches respectively.

Swietelsky Haladás 1–0 Debreceni VSC (0–0)

Sopron, 1147 spectators, ref: Szabó Zs.
Goalscorers: HAL: Ars (53.),
Yellow cards: HAL: Iszlai (51.), Ars (58.), DEB: Jovanovic (25.), Filip (35.)

Haladás: Gyurján – Polgár, S. Wils, Hegedűs, Bosnjak – Tóth M. (Jagodics M., 81.), Iszlai, Gaál – Rácz (Dombi G., 90.), Halmosi – Ars (Overgoor, 72.)

DVSC: Danilovic – Jovanovic, Szatmári Cs., Brkovic, Völgyi (Horváth Zs., 59.) – Filip (Takács, 78.), Tőzsér, Szakály P. (Mészáros, 71.), Bobko – Holman, Vittek

Before the match the Haladás leadership paid tribute to veteran Péter Halmosi who was making his 350th NBI appearance and Gábor Királyi who had recently retired from international football. Both teams started the match in proactive fashion with the visitors initially providing more of a goal threat, but neither could break the first-half deadlock. That was ancient history by the 53rd minute though when Dutchman Sjoerd Ars headed the home team in front, a setback which Debrecen initially struggled to cope with before then regaining their composure and dominating the game from thereon. ‘Loki’ even struck the post near the end but their superiority in possession went unrewarded, partly due to young Gyurján’s heroics in the Haladás goal, so it was the home team which took all three points.

Ferencváros 2–0 Gyirmót FC (0–0)

Groupama Aréna, 5613 spectators, ref: Karakó
Goalscorers: FTC: Présinger (own goal, 50.), Djuricin (65.)
Yellow cards: FTC: Cukic (47.), GYI: Présinger (86.)

FTC: Dibusz – Lovrencsics, Pintér, Cukic, Leandro – Gera, Hajnal (Gyömbér 74.) – Rju, Trinks (Nagy D. 43.), Djuricin – Böde (Csernik 84.)

Gyirmót: Rusák – Jancsó, Lengyel, Présinger – Achim, Vass, Kiss, Bori – Sallói (Szegi 79.), Filkor (Madarász 71.) – Csiki (Simon A. 75.)

Ferencváros coach Thomas Doll watched this game from the stands due to a two-match suspension imposed last week and would have been relatively pleased to see his team dominate the first half, albeit without making it count in goals. He didn’t have to wait much longer though, a Présinger own goal and a Djuricin strike after a surge from midfield putting the title-holders out of sight of a plucky but limited Gyirmót side.

Diósgyőri VTK–Paksi FC 2–0 (0–0)

Mezőkövesd, 1769 spectators, Ref: Szőts
Goalscorers: Lipták (59.), Ugrai (92.)
Yellow cards: DIÓ: Lipták (66.), Elek (66.), Ugrai (80.), MEZ: Gévay (66.), Koltai (93.)

Diósgyőri VTK: Rados – Eperjesi, Lipták, Jagodinskis, Nemes – Dausvili, Elek – Vela, Nono (Nikházi, 84.), Bacsa (Bognár, 64.) – Novothny (Ugrai, 77.)

Paksi FC: Kemenes – Kulcsár, Lenzsér, Gévay, Szabó J. – Papp – Koltai, Kecskés (Vernes, 63.), Bertus, Szakály (Jelena, 85.) – Hahn

Diósgyőr started this game on the front foot but couldn’t make their slick football count in front of goal, while Paks, who committed a number of minor fouls throughout, posed a danger on the counter attack and nearly took the lead, home-team goalkeeper Rados denying them by grabbing the ball right on his goalline on one occasion.

The picture was no different after the break, DVTK attacking and Paks trying to counter. The home team finally took the lead through Zoltán Lipták following a corner in the 59th minute and later secured the points in added time when Ugrai converted the rebound following a missed penalty. With this three points, Diógyőr now leap out of the relegation zone, a place in which they’ve resided for a good number of weeks now. Paks, meanwhile, see their three-match unbeaten run ended and replace their victors in the bottom two.

Videoton FC 2–0 MTK Budapest (0–0)

Felcsút, 1498 spectators, ref: Farkas Á.
Goalscorers: VID: Lazovic (70., 90.)
Yellow cards: VID: Hadzsic (6.), Lazovic (29.), Vinícius (45.), Juhász R. (67.), Kovács I. (79.), MTK: Poór (16.), Vogyicska (31.), Ramos (43.)

Videoton: Kovácsik – Nego, Vinícius, Stopira, Szolnoki – Juhász R., Hadzic – Géresi, Scepovic, Lazovic (Bódi 92.), Feczesin (Kovács I. 46′)

MTK: Petkovic – Poór, Vass Á., Vukmir, Baki – Borbély B. (Katona 63.) – Korozmán (Szatmári I. 81.), Kanta J., Vogyicska (Szatmári L. 76.), Ramos – Torghelle

Both teams started the contest cautiously with only Lazovic’s ultimately unsuccessful free-kick posing any threat to MTK goal, but the game soon started to warm up, MTK’s Petkovic saving well from Lazovic and Vogyiska ending a flowing counter attack with a shot which just went wide. Ramos just failed to converted Korozman’s cross as MTK sought to take a surprise lead before Lazovic cannoned a free-kick against the woodwork as both goals somehow remained unbreached.

Into the second half and it was Videoton who dominated possession but neither Scepovic nor Géresi could take chances which came their way. The home team did find a way though in the 70th minute, when Lazovic smashed Scepovic’s back-heeled pass into the MTK net. Three minutes later, Géresi could have doubled the Székesfehérvári team’s advantage but he could only head Nego’s cross into Petkovic’s hands. Lazovic deservedly had the last word though, combining well again with Scepovic and tucking the ball past Petkovic to secure the three points for ‘Vidi’, who now lie just one point away from Vasas at the top of the league.

NB I league table:

 1.  Vasas                       17  9   4   4    27:17  31 points
 2.  Videoton                    17  9   3   5    37:18  30
 3.  Ferencváros                 17  8   5   4    33:24  29
 4.  Honvéd                      17  8   4   5    27:17  28
 5.  Szombathely                 17  7   4   6    20:20  25
 6.  Mezőkövesd                  17  6   6   5    19:21  24
 7.  Újpest                      17  5   8   4    27:25  23
 8.  Debrecen                    17  5   5   7    20:23  20
 9.  Diósgyőr                    17  5   3   9    23:33  18
10.  MTK                         17  4   6   7    10:19  18
11.  Paks                        17  3   8   6    15:23  17
12.  Gyirmót                     17  3   4  10     8:26  13

The OTP Bank Liga goalscorers list:

8 goals:
Feczesin (Videoton), Djuricin (Ferencváros)

7 goals:
Böde (Ferencváros), Lanzafame (Honvéd), Lazovic (Videoton)

6 goals:
Ádám M. (Vasas), Bardhi (Újpest), Eppel (Honvéd), Scepovic (Videoton)

Photo: MTI

Source: MLSZ – press release