After a home win ofKisvárda and the defeat of Puskás Akadémia in Székesfehérvár, our men's footballers ran onto the pitch for their 291st derby in the knowledge that a win would mathematically secure their fourth league title in a row and the 33rd overall. Tickets for this prestigious encounter had sold out days in advance, so the atmosphere on Üllői út was expected to be very good on Sunday afternoon.
Our head coach Stanislav Cherchesov chose Dibusz - Somalia, Blazic, Kovacevic, Pászka - Vécsei, Laidouni, Esiti - Zachariassen, Boli, Tokmac for the starting line-up.
First half
We only had to wait a minute and a half for our first serious chance, Boli was in a promising position but the visiting defence intervened. In the fourth minute, Blazic took a shot from outside the box, but Banai saved. Half a minute later, Újpest were awarded a penalty: Zivzivadze stepped up and shot into the bottom left corner (0-1).
In the 13th minute, Laidouni spotted Pászka free on the left, who looked up after an adjustment and fired the ball long, but the onrushing Zachariassen missed. Minutes later, a corner was headed wide by Pászka, but his flat effort was easily saved by Banai. In the 19th minute, Boli crossed the ball, Kastrati could not free himself, but Tokmac came from long range and equalised with a left-footed shot (1-1).
In the 39th minute, Pászka made a great pass to Vécsei, who put a great left-footed shot into the long bottom corner, and we had the lead (2-1). Three minutes later, Kovacevic was left on the ground and the referee immediately signaled the medical staff to come. After a short treatment our Bosnian defender indicated that he could continue, no problem. In the one minute of extra time no further goals were scored and we went to the break with a 2-1 lead.
Second half
We made one substitution during the break, with Somalia being replaced by Samy Mmaee for the restart.
In the 55th minute, Tokmac made a great start for Boli, who was tackled by the visiting defence before he could shoot, a corner was taken. Two minutes later, Újpest attacked and Croizet's close range effort was saved by Dibusz with an amazing reflex move, and we still had the lead. In the 60th minute, we threatened again after Pászka's cross, this time Boli turned off his defender and shot, but Banai saved, as he did two minutes later with Laidouni's effort.
In the 63rd minute Loncar replaced Bálint Vécsei, who scored our second goal. In the 71st minute, after a great counterattack, Loncar shot but was blocked by the Újpest defence. Moments later we made another change: Auzqui came on for Zachariassen. In the 73rd minute Újpest made a substitution: Mitrovic came on for Miroslav Bjelos.
In the 81st minute, Boli set up Pászka, who shot right after a cool dribble but missed the target. The referee gave 8 minutes extra time, and three minutes into the OT Loncar was sent off the pitch with a red card. Then Croizet equalised in stoppage time, but the referee disallowed the goal after viewing it again with VAR, as it was a handball. The result remained unchanged for the rest of the match, and the home side beat Újpest for the tenth time in a row to defend their title, the thirty-third league title in the club's history.
Men's football
OTP Bank League, Round 29
FTC–Újpest FC 2-1 (2-1)
Budapest, Groupama Arena
FTC: Dibusz - Somália (S. Mmaee, at the break), Blazic, Kovacevic, Pászka - Vécsei (Loncar, 63.), Laidouni (Besic 90.), Esiti - Zachariassen (Auzqui, 71.), Boli, Tokmac Head coach: Stanislav Cherchesov
Újpest: Banai - Kastrati, Koutroumpis, Bjelos (Mitrovic, 73.), Antonov - Chongvai, Boumal (Katona, 83.) - Croizet, Onovo, Beridze - Zivzivadze Head coach: Miroslav Kruscic
Yellow cards: Boli (61st), Kovacevic (81st), Loncar (87th 90+3rd), Tokmac (90+5th) and Croizet (42nd), Onovo (60th), Csongvai (87th)
Red card: Loncar (90+3)
Goals: Tokmac (19th), Vécsei (39th) and Zivzivadze (6th)
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