Our 34-time Hungarian champion men's football team hosted Újpest at the Groupama Arena in the 11th round of the OTP Bank League. On Thursday, our team played in Genk in the third round of the Conference League group stage, the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Dejan Stankovic made several changes to the starting line-up from the midweek game, our head coach sent our team in the line-up of Varga Ádám - Henry Wingo, Samy Mmaee, Myenty Abena, Botka Endre - Cebrail Makreckis, Mohammed Abu Fani - Kristoffer Zachariassen, Alekszandar Pesics, Owusu Kwabena - Lisztes Krisztián.

The Albert Foundation, the club foundation of FTC, in addition to cherishing the memory of Albert Flórián, pays special attention to the club's values and talent, and in this spirit, every year it awards our best junior footballers. The "Best Player" award for the 2022/2023 season goes to 18-year-old Alex Tóth, who has already made his debut in the NB I for Ferencváros and is a key member of the Hungarian U19 national team. The striker, who joined FTC three and a half years ago, scored 17 goals in the U19 championship last season. Both players are now regulars for our NB III team this season. The prizes were presented by Flórián Albert Jr. before the derby kick-off.

Before the kick-off, the symbolic handshake of FTC President Gábor Kubatov, Alexandre Jeanjean, CEO of Groupama Insurance and András Igaz, CEO of SPORTFIVE Hungary Kft., marked the extension of an agreement, as Groupama Insurance extended its contract with Ferencváros Torna Club and the stadium operator SPORTFIVE Hungary Kft.

Under the terms of the agreement, the stadium's official name will remain Groupama Arena until 2029. This is the longest and most significant partnership in the history of the 34-time Hungarian champions FTC, as the partnership has been in place since 2014.

First half

Our team took the opening kick-off, with the sides alternating possession in the first few minutes. Sammy Mmaee set up Owusu, who was able to send the ball towards the Újpest goal, but his attempt was off target. In the 10th minute, Krisztián Lisztes received a good ball from Alekszandar Pesics, but our young striker's shot was blocked by the opponent's defenders. Three minutes later Lisztes had another chance, Abu Fani's free-kick was headed to the side by Samy Mmaee, where Lisztes headed the ball onto the goalpost. After the visitors' clearence, Zachariassen shook off his defenders and crossed the ball into the middle for Makreckis, but his shot into the middle was saved by Banai.

In the 19th minute our team led a counterattack, again Lisztes was in the lead, his cross was badly blocked by the visitors' goalkeeper, but the oncoming Pesics could not get a touch on the ball. Újpest's first chance came in the 22nd minute, but Koszanovics' free kick was saved by Ádám Varga. The lead came in the 28th minute, when Cebrail Makreckis sped up in midfield and passed the ball to Wingo, who passed to Pesics, who found the net (1-0).

Ten minutes before the end of the first half, Wingo centred and Zachariassen got on the ball, but he headed the ball into Owusu's back and the no goal was scored. Shortly afterwards, our Ghanaian striker fired in a shot but his attempt was confidently saved by Banai. In the 41st minute, Ádám Varga showed another superb block as Koszanovic took a corner and aimed for the short side of the goal, but our goalkeeper was able to get a shot off. In the last minute of the first half, Lisztes' shot was saved by Banai. Csoboth had another chance before the break, but Varga was again on the spot.

Second half

Dejan Stankovic made two changes at the break, sending on Ramírez for Botka and Marquinhos for Lisztes. In the 51st minute the visitors threatened, first Varga saved Onovo's shot and then Ambrose's effort went past the right post. Two minutes later, Hall was booked for a yellow card, but the free kick from outside the penalty area was taken by Abu Fani and he fired into the middle of the box, giving Banai no trouble.

In the 65th minute, there were huge situations on both sides, first with Pesic's cross into the middle of the box that neither Owusu nor Marquinhos could get on target, then Abu Fani and Ramírez interfered. After our team lost the ball, the opponents counter-attacked, Ambrose was on the move, but our defenders were able to clear at the last moment. In the 70th minute, our team doubled their lead, Abu Fani's right-wing corner was headed unmarked into the Újpest goal by Abena (2-0). Four minutes later, Abu Fani scored again, shooting from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner (3-0).

No more goals were scored in the match, and the team beat Újpest 3-0 in a fantastic atmosphere and sold-out derby to remain top of the table. Our team will next play on Wednesday, November 1st, when we will host Puskás Akadémia at 20:00 in the MOL Hungarian Cup.