Five-star Hungary Women triumph away in Latvia

Previously, Hungary had faced their Latvian national-team counterparts once, in Szombathely, when they won 4–0 with goals from Zsanett Jakabfi, Dóra Zeller, Evelin Fenyvesi and Sára Pusztai.

Latvia, ranked 93rd in the FIFA world rankings, 50 places behind Edina Markós side, had not yet scored a point in the European Championship qualifiers, having lost 4-1 to Sweden, 2-1 to Slovakia, 6-0 and 9-0 to Iceland, the latter loss coming just five days before Tuesday’s encounter. Hungary, on the other hand, could boast that aforementioned defeat of Latvia and a goalless draw away in Slovakia, in addition to two losses against Sweden (5-0 and 8-0) and a 4-1 defeat to Iceland.

Markó's starting lineup in the Latvian town of Liepaja featured three changes to last week's European Championship qualifying loss in Sweden, Fruzsina Schildkraut starting in goal, and Evelin Fenyvesi and Sára Pusztai stepping in in place of Henrietta Csiszár and Dóra Süle.

Hungary immediately took the initiative, the Latvians unable to keep the ball for a long time, which meant the game was played mostly in their defending half and it was no surpirise when Zeller slid in to convert Zsanett Jakabfi's free-kick in the ninth minute. Zeller and Bernadett Zágor went close to doubling the lead soon after, while Schildkraut made her first save on the quarter-hour mark, safely gathering a weak shot.

Hungary dominated the rest of the half and stretched their advantage in the 26th minute, again through Zeller, when Jakabfi's pass was only half-intercepted and the ball was pounced upon by the Bayer Leverkusen who fired an impressive shot into the Latvia net. Lilla Turányi went close to a third goal with a header from a corner which the goalkeeper palmed away but Hungary didn't have long to wait before they could celebrate again, Sára Pusztai's shot from a rebound putting her team 3-0 up in the 33rd minute.

The half-time break saw Markó replace Anna Csiki with youngster Virág Nagy but there was no let-up in the visitors' dominance, Evelin Fenyvesi so very nearly reaching Pusztai's pass in front of goal in the first five minutes of the second period. Then, in the 54th minute, Lilla Turányi headed Zsófia Rácz's corner into the net for Hungary's fourth goal, a feat she repeated in added time to set the final scoreline at 5-0 after another half of sustained Hungary pressure.

Edina Markó, Hungary head coach: "After the first half, we wanted to keep up the momentum and score even more goals. That was the aim for us - we could see from this match too what kind of situation we've been in during this period of two away games, but still the girls got the most out of the match. We came for the three points and in gaining them, scored five goals, so the girls deserve praise. We were tired by the end; the last ten days and the previous match were in our legs, which was a game with a completely different rhythm and quality, so this match here was also difficult, especially away. Luckily, we were able to almost decide the fate of the three points by the end of the first half and unfortunately we didn’t have much more in us, but there was never any doubt that we were in control and what was happening on the field was what we wanted to happen".

Latvia 0-5 Hungary
Venue: Daugava stadium, Liepaja
GOALS:
Dóra Zeller (8, 25)
Sára Pusztai (32)
Lilla Turányi (53, 92)

Hungary lineup: Fruzsina Schildkraut, Hanna Németh, Sára Pusztai, Anna Csiki (Virág Nagy, 45), Evelin Fenyvesi (Henrietta Csiszár, 62), Zsanett Jakabfi (Dóra Süle, 73), Evelin Mosdóczi, Zsófia Rácz, Dóra Zeller, Lilla Turányi, Bernadett Zágor.