Honvéd defeat MTK on penalties to reach Hungarian Cup final

2020. május. 27., 18:17 |

Budapest Honvéd will face Mezőkövesd in the 2020 Hungarian Cup final after they battled through two goalless semi-final legs with MTK before defeating their city rivals in a penalty shootout in the Puskás Aréna on Tuesday.

Hungarian Cup, semi-final 2nd leg:
Budapest Honvéd 0–0 MTK Budapest (NB II) – penalty shootout: 5–4
Puskás Aréna, behind closed doors, ref.: Solymosi
Yellow cards: HON: George (9.), Mezgrani (43.), Szendrei (103.), Moutari (118.)

Budapest Honvéd: Tujvel – Mezgrani, Lovric, Batik, Uzoma – Nagy G. (Szendrei, 46.), Hidi – Gazdag (Ikenne-King, 108.), Lanzafame (Kamber, 80.), Kesztyűs (Kukoc, 90+2.) – George (László D., 55.; Moutari, 90+2.)
MTK Budapest: Varga B. – Fülöp N. (Baki, 95.), Katona M. (Kanta, 115.), Varju, Pintér Á. – Mezei (Nagy Zs., 95.), Palincsár (Bognár I., 54.), Cseke - Lencse (Bíró, 72.), Schön (Gera, 72.), Prosser.

In truth this was a cautious and largely uneventful match, the first for either side in Hungary's brand new national stadium, which will also host the final on 3rd June. Veteran goalkeeper kept Honvéd in the match with a couple of smart saves, while Dániel Gazdag could have rued shooting straight at Bence Varga when clean through on goal early in extra time. As it was, with the first leg last Saturday also having been drawn 0-0, the match drifted towards penalties, Dániel Gera, the unfortunate man to miss the vital spotkick in sudden death, one penalty each already having been missed earlier in the shootout.

Honvéd will now aim to earn their eighth Hungarian Cup title when they take on final debutants Mezőkövesd in the Puslás Aréna at20:00on 3rd June.