Hungary slip to single-goal defeat in Athens

2018. október. 12., 23:32 |

A second-half header from striker Kostas Mitroglou was enough to dash Hungarian hopes of a home-and-away double over Greece in Athens on Friday night, but in truth the visitors were unlucky not to emerge with at least a point from their third match of this inaugural UEFA Nations League campaign.

Hungary head coach Marco Rossi handed an international debut to centre-back Willi Orbán and opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation which was intended to harness the attacking talents of Zsolt Kálmár, Roland Sallai, Roland Varga and László Kleinheisler in midfield behind sole striker Ádám Szalai.

It was Kálmár who had Hungary's best chance of an attritional first half in the 22nd minute but he didn't connect with the ball well enough for his shot from distance to trouble the home goalkeeper at all. Six minutes later, Roland Varga's free-kick from the left channel 30 metres from goal didn't dip early enough to sneak into the far right corner of the goal.

That was as good as it got for either side with the hosts almost non-existent in an attacking sense. The pattern of the match changed after the break though and Ádám Szalai was unfortunate to see his near-post header from 14 metres drift just wide of the far left post.

Hungary looked the more impressive all over the pitch and brought on István Kovács for Zsolt Kálmár in the 55th minute in an attempt to capitalise on their superiority, but instead they were caught by a classic sucker-punch ten minutes later, Kostas Mitroglou's thunderous downward header from Cimikas' left-wing cross leaving visiting goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi with no chance.

Hungary responded by bringing on Dominik Nagy in place of Varga and Krisztián Németh for defender Barnabás Bese, but it was to no avail. Indeed, the best chance of the match fell to Greek substitute Hristodopoulous but Gulácsi was equal to his low effort from 14 metres in the 92nd minute.

This second defeat in three matches leaves Hungary 3rd in Group 2 of League C on three points. Their next opponents on Tuesday, Estonia, are bottom with zero points while Greece on six and Finland on nine points both find themselves above Marco Rossi's men.

Nations League, League C
Group 2, 3rd matchday

Greece 1–0 Hungary (HT: 0–0)
Goalscorer: Mitroglou (65')
Athens, Olympic Stadium. Referee: Stieler (GER)

Greece: Barkas – Bakakis, Papastathopoulos, Manolas, Cimikas – Zeca, Kurbelis (Ciolis, 46') – Bakasetas, Fortunis, Pelkas (Hristodopoulos, 85') – Mitroglou (Buhalakis, 94').
Head coach: Michael Skibbe

Hungary: Gulácsi – Bese (Németh K., 75'), Orbán, Kádár, Fiola – Nagy Á. – Varga R. (Nagy D., 68'), Kleinheisler, Kalmár (Kovács I., 55'), Sallai – Szalai Á.
Head coach: Marco Rossi