Our 32-time Hungarian defending champion football team hosted Mezőkövesd in the 25th round of the OTP Bank Liga at the Groupama Arena. Our head coach Stanislav Cherchesov started with the following lineup: Dibusz - Wingo, S. Mmaee, Kovacevic, Civic - Esiti, Laidouni - Zubkov, Zachariassen, Tokmac - R. Mmaee.

First half

That's how you start a match: in the third minute Tokmac Nguen received a great ball from Aissa Laidouni at the end of a clearance, and our striker sprinted across the visiting half before firing an unstoppable shot into the net from about 20 metres out (1-0). It was Tokmac's sixth goal in the league this season.

In the 15th minute, Civic, who had signed a contract extension on Friday, tried to score from a corner, but his shot was saved by Tordai. Two minutes later, Ryan Mmaee headed towards the net, but the Mezőkövesd goalkeeper won the ball. They immediately had a second clash, this time our striker threatened from a free-kick, but Tordai saved that too. In the 29th minute, a foul was committed against Laidouni about 22 meters from the away goal, and we had a free kick from a promising position, but Tokmac's shot lacked power.

The second Fradi goal was very close after a combination between Tokmac and Ryan Mmaee, but the latter's shot was blocked by the defenders in front of the goal. Zachariassen then found the back of the net after a sample attack, but the goal was disallowed after a lengthy video review. A few minutes later, the first away chance was recorded, but Bilali's header went over and Cseke's shot was saved by Dénes Dibusz. In the 43rd minute, Zubkov received an excellent ball from Wingo, Tordai, who was running out of the goal, collided with our midfielder, but the referee found Zubkov at fault and the penalty was not awarded. In the extra time Zubkov had another great chance, but he couldn't outsmart Tordai and the score remained 1-0 at the break.

Second half

The second half started with a big away chance: Cseri teased Drazic, who had come on as a substitute at the break, but his shot just missed the target. At the other end, Kovacevic's dangerous header was saved by Tordai. In the 68th minute, Ryan Mmaee was aggressive enough to cross the ball to Wingo, but Tordai got hold of the ball. After that, our first refreshments came: Zubkov was replaced by Endre Botka and Zachariassen by Zeljko Gavric. Immediately afterwards, Drazic fired in from seven metres, but Dibusz Dénes saved the dangerous shot with great bravery. In the 75th minute, Gavric and Samy Mmaee combined and Vécsei headed goalwards, but we failed to score a second goal, as did Tokmac two minutes later. In the 82nd minute, Ryan Mmaee could have settled the game with a counter-attack, but his attempt missed the target. In the 86th minute, Dénes Dibusz caught Vécsei's cross, but our goalkeeper thought that he had the right to touch the ball with his hand because it bounced off an away player, but the referee and the linesman didn't see it that way, so Mezőkövesd had a free kick from inside the penalty area, but the shot only hit the side netting.
At the end of the match, the visitors threatened several times, but failed to score and the score remained 1-0 in our favour until the final whistle.

With another win, Stanislav Cherchesov's side remain on top of the OTP Bank League and will next face Puskás Akadémia away from home on Sunday 3 April at 17.00 after the national team break.