Hungarian Cup: Debrecen face uphill task to reach quarters

Honvéd's task on the shore of Lake Balaton seemed straightforward when January transfer window signing Tibor Heffler put them ahead and Márton Eppel, last season's top goalscorer in the OTP Bank Liga, extended the lead. However, former Plymouth Argyle midfielder Márk Petneházi halved the deficit from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute before a last-minute corner provided Mátyás Gál with the chance to equalise and he made no mistake.

It was an altogether easier evening's work for Honvéd's Budapest rivals, NB II table-toppers MTK, who won 4-0 at County league 1st division club Sényő, while Balmazújváros of NB I battled to a 3-2 win away at second-tier ET0 FC Győr ahead of next week's return leg.

Earlier, on Tuesday, there were another four first-leg matches played but a fifth, a Újpest FC-Paksi FC, was postponed due to adverse weather conditions rendering the pitch unusable. Debrecen have made their task harder in the second leg by losing 2-1 at home to second division Dorog. The first half was goalless but Loki took a 56th-minute lead through Kinyik, only for Dorog to level matters eight minutes later and then edge into a shock lead from the penalty spot in the 81st minute.

Puskás Akadémia were unable to come back from Zalalagerszeg with a positive result, former Honvéd midfielder Richárd Vernes scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the 66th minute. Elsewhere, Békéscsaba travelled the length of the country to take on Nagykanisza and emerged with a 3-1 victory over the County League division 1 team, while Diósgyőr were playing host at their temporary home of Mezőkövesd to Vác, conquerers of Videoton in the last round. The club from Miskolc went ahead in the 30th minute through Ioannidis and doubled their advantage in the 87th minute thanks to Patrik Bacsa to set up a seemingly comfortable passage through to the quarter-finals if they can gain a positive outcome in next week's second leg.

Hungarian Cup, round of 16, first legs

Wednesday's results:

MTK Budapest (II.) 4–0 Sényő FC (County I.) (HT: 3–0)
Goalscorers: MTK: Hrepka (11.), Kanta (34.), Baki (40.), Borbély (81.)

ETO FC Győr (II.) 2–3 Balmaz Kamilla Gyógyfürdő (1–2)
Goalscorers: ETO: Szánthó (28., 70.), BAL: Vajda (16.), Arabuli (32.), Rácz (83.)

BFC Siófok (II.) 2–2 Budapest Honvéd (0–2)
Goalscorers: SIÓ: Petneházi (82.), Gál (90.), HON: Heffler (17.), Eppel (26.)

Tuesday's results:

Debreceni VSC 1–2 Dorogi FC (NB II)
Goalscorers: DEB: Kinyik 56., DOR: Kovács D. 64., Mészáros Á. 81 (pen).

ZTE FC (NB II) 1–0 Puskás Akadémia FC
Goalscorers: ZTE: Vernes 66. (pen).

UFC Nagykanizsa (County I.) 1–3 Békéscsaba (NB II)
Goalscorers: NAK: Péntek 56. (pen), BÉK: Urbin 7., Szatmári 26., Gránicz 32.

Diósgyőri VTK 2–0 Vác FC (NB II) (1-0)
Goalscorers: DIÓ: Ionnadis 30., Bacsa 87.

Újpest FC–Paksi FC – postponed.

The return legs will take place next week.