OTP Bank Liga: Fehérvár win battle of title rivals

MOL Fehérvár FC 2-1 Mezőkövesd Zsóry FC (2-1)

Goalscorers: FEH: Hodzic (18.), Houri (37.), MEZ: Berecz (16.)
Fehérvár: Kovácsik - Fiola, Juhász R., Vinícius (Musliu 80.), Stopira - Pátkai, Elek - Houri, Kovács I., Petrjak (Bamgboye 44.) - Hodzic (Nikolics 73.)
Mezőkövesd: Szappanos - Farkas D., Neszterov, Pillár, Katanec - Karnyicki (Pekár 73.), Berecz - Cseri, Besirovic, Jurina (Nagy D. 73.) - Zivzivadze

Mezőkövesd started this battle between two of the top three clubs the better and took a 16th-minute lead through Zsombor Berecz but the advantage didn't last for long, Armin Hodzic redirecting Ákos Elek's long-range shot into the vistors' net two minutes later. Another long-distance effort then propelled the hosts into the lead, Lyes Houri firing an unstoppable drive into the top-right corner of the goal in the 37th minute. Mezőkövesd's Budu Zivzivadze saw an early second-half effort ruled out while at the other end, Funsho Bamgboye's header was superbly saved by visiting goalkeeper Péter Szappanos. Twenty minutes from the end, Bamgboye missed a great chance to decide the game with a third goal while Dániel Nagy was denied an equaliser by the offside flag, Fehérvár ultimately prevailing and closing to within three points of league leaders Ferencváros, albeit having played two matches more.

Diósgyőri VTK 1-2 Debreceni VSC (HT: 1-2)

Goalscorers: DIÓ: Ivanovski (4.), DEB: Adeniji (13.), Kinyik (16.)
DVTK: Danilovic - Vági, Polgár (Tabakovic, 81.), Brkovic, Memolla - Márkvárt, Iszlai - Hasani, Rui Pedro (Molnár G., 65.), Kiss T. (Cortes, 73.) -
Ivanovski
DVSC: Kosicky - Bényei (Baráth, 75.), Kinyik, Pávkovics, Ferenczi J. - Kusnyír, Csősz - Bódi, Szécsi (Garba, 66.), Varga K. - Adeniji (Milunovic, 68.)

This match formed the start of Diósgyőr's 110th anniversary celebrations and before it started, DVTK's Golden Team', the squad which finished third in the league in 1979/80 and twice won the Hungarian Cup in 1977 and 1980, greeted the crowd on the pitch before a moment's commemoration was held for former player Tibor Halgas, who passed away last week aged just 38. All the game's goals came in the first 16 minutes, the hosts edging in front through Mirko Ivanoski after four minutes, only for the visitors to turn the match on its head with two goals in four minutes from Babatunde Adeniji and Ákos Kinyik. An otherwise entertaining game saw no addition to the goalscoring, the only moment of real drama coming in the 86th minute when Cortes accidentally kicked the head of Kinyik, who had to be escorted from the field of play.

Debrecen ultimately deserved their win, which sees them remain unbeaten this calendar year and leapfrog their opponents into sixth position. Diósgyőr slip to seventh having suffered their first league defeat of 2020.

Budapest Honvéd FC 2-0 Zalaegerszegi TE (1-0)

Goalscorers: HON: Kálnoki-Kis (43.), Lanzafame (91. pen.)
Budapest Honvéd: Tujvel - Batik (Kálnoki-Kis, 21.), Kamber, Lovric - Ikenne-King, Hidi, Mayron (Nagy G., 58.), Kesztyűs (Uzoma, 85.), Aliji - Lanzafame, Moutari
ZTE: Demjén - Bolla, Lesjak, Szépe, Gergényi - Kocsis G., Katelarisz - McWoods (Radó, 46.), Ostrek, Barczi (Stieber, 62.) - Ikoba (Bobál G., 76.)

There was little in the way of goalmouth action early on at Honvéd's temporary home of the Nándor Hidegkuti Stadium, Zalaegerszeg perhaps threatening more in the final third but also unable to test the opposing goalkeeper. Honvéd did manage to open the scoring two minutes before the break though, a half-cleared corner being returned into the penalty box for Dávid Kálnoki-Kis to turn into the net from close range. The visitors, buoyed by the introduction of forwards András Radó and Zoltán Stieber, dominated the early second-half exchanges but still couldn't endanger the Honvéd goal and instead the hosts earned a penalty from a rare, late counter-attack which Dávid Lanzafame converted. The club from Kispest have now defeated Zalaegerszeg four times in a row without conceding even a single goal, while the latter are now on a run of four league matches without a win - one draw and three losses.

Paksi FC 0-2 Puskás Akadémia (0-1)

Goalscorers: Favorov (11.), Vanecek (90.)
Red cards: Könyves (38.), Böde (40.)
Paks: Rácz - Lenzsér (Poór, 64.), Szélpál, Kelemen, Szabó J. - Szakály D., Balogh B., Bertus - Könyves, Böde, Hahn (Sajban, 69.)
Puskás Akadémia: Hegedüs - Szolnoki, Huszti, Meissner, Van Nieff - Nagy Zs., Favorov (Urblík, 45.) - Knezevic, Plsek (Sós, 61.), Gyurcsó - Mebrahtu (Vanecek, 87.)

This was an even match until both Paks strikers were sent off within three minutes of each other, shortly before half-time. Earlier, Favorov had followed up his assist of four days previous against Diógyőr with an 11th-minute opening goal for the away team, but the real game-changers were the two red cards issued for second bookable offences, in both cases for dissent by veteran Paks strikers Norbert Könyves and Dániel Böde. The hosts obviously needed a miracle to gain any points thereafter but none was forthcoming and Puskás Akadémia secured their first victory in seven games late on thanks to Vanecek's 90th-minute goal.

Kisvárda Master Good 5-3 Kaposvári Rákóczi FC (1-1)

Goalscorers: KIS: Melnyik (34.), Tischler (59., 65., 82.), Viana (72.), KAP: Hegedűs D. (31.), Nagy J. (49.), Fodor (70.)

Kisvárda: Dombó - Melnyik, Beriosz, Ene, Protic - Lucas, Bumba (Cukalasz, 53.) - Grozav, Sassá, Kovácsréti (Tischler, 58.) - Viana (Karaszjuk, 80.)

Kaposvár: Pogacsics - Vachtler, Hegedűs D., Tarasovs, Hadaró (Fodor, 59.) - Nagy J. (Trebotic, 73.), Jakimiv (Palic, 64.) - Nagy R., Csiki, Balázs - Szakály A.

Although the home team started in the ascendancy, it was the league's bottom team which created the first chance, only for Balázs to spurn it. Nevertheless, it was Kaposvár who went ahead through Hegedüs just after the half-hour mark following a goalkeeping error. That concession sparked the hosts into life and they equalised from a superbly-crafted attacking move three minutes later, one which Melnyik finished off. Kaposvár regained the lead early in the second half through J Nagy but during an error-strewn period, the home team recovered and took the lead courtesy of two strikes from substitute Patrik Tischler - the first goal with his first touch after coming on - before Kaposvár somehow found an equaliser to make it 3-3. With 20 minutes to go, the game could have swung decisively either way and it did - the way of the home side who scored a fourth through Viana on 72 minutes before Tischler completed his stunning, second-half hat-trick with eight minutes remaining.

New head coach Tamás Bódog - appointed last Thursday - has therefore broken Kisvárda's five-match winless sequence at the first attempt and led his new team to their first league victory since 30th November. In contrast, despite scoring three goals, Kaposvár suffered their ninth defeat in ten games on the road.

The other scheduled match in the round, Újpest-Ferencváros, was postponed due to the unplayable condition of the pitch.

The current OTP Bank Liga table can be viewed here: https://adatbank.mlsz.hu/club/52/0/20850/20/193800.html