Football's resumption starts with a Fradi win

2020. május. 24., 16:48 |

Two goals from midfielder Dávid Sigér helped Ferencváros recover from an early deficit and win their rearrranged OTP Bank Liga match against Debrecen in an almost empty Groupama Aréna in Budapest on Saturday afternoon, supporters obviously not allowed to attend due to the coronvirus public heath crisis which had, until this match, forced the absence of football for the last two months.

Unlike previous behind-closed-doors experiences, there were no groups of supporters gathered outside the stadium, while inside the tribunes were only populated by large printed pictures of fans in certain seats andtherewas no traditional shaking of hands by the playerson the pitch.

Ferencváros started in attacking fashion but Debrecen closed down space effectively and counter-attacked clinically, Kevin Varga seeing his clos-range effort diverted by Fradi goalkeeper Dénes Dibusz for a corner before Ádám Bódi handed the visitors the lead in the 13th minute.

The hosts were not to be cowed though and equalised just nine minutes later, Franck Boli heading the ball onto the crossbar and Dávid Sigér on hand to dispatch the rebound into the Debrecen net eight metres from goal. An even rest of the first half ensued, at least until the 41st minute when away-team goalkeeper Sándor Nagy denied Gergő Lovrencsics from a tight angle. A minute later, Fradi were ahead and again it was Debrecen academy graduate Sigér on target, this time with a long-distance drive which flew past Nagy into the net.

The start of the second half was characterised by a catalogue of technical errors but Ferencváros winger Isael broke this spell with a first-time shot at the end of a promising move in the 63rd minute, but he couldn't double the league leaders' one-goal advantage.

Debrecen pushed for an equaliser towards the end but none was forthcoming, thus Ferencváros extended their unbeaten home run to 50 league matches and counting.

Dávid Sigér: "I'm happy there was at least some kind of atmosphere (the stadium speaker system broadcast a typical base-level match sound), but you can't fully replace what the supporters bring live. The most important thing was the win and to give something to the fans who watched the match in front of the TV".

OTP Bank Liga:
Ferencvárosi TC 2–1 Debreceni VSC (HT: 2–1)
Groupama Aréna, behind closed doors, ref.: Pintér Cs.
Goalscorers: FTC: Sigér (22., 42.), DEB: Bódi (13.)
Yellow cards: Zubkov (28.), Haratin (36.), Botka (72.), DEB: Pávkovics (64.)

Ferencváros: Dibusz – Lovrencsics, Blazic, Botka, Civic – Kharatin, Sigér (Somália, 88.) – Zubkov (Vécsei, 60.), Isael (Skvarka, 83.), Nguen – Boli (Signevich, 83.)
Debrecen: Nagy S. – Kusnyír, Kinyik, Pávkovics, Ferenczi – Tőzsér (Milunovic, 77.) – Bódi, Haris (Kundrák, 66.), Varga K. (Csősz, 66.) – Adeniji (Garba, 46.), Szécsi