Hungary U21s pay the penalty in Slovenia

Zoltán Gera's team were attempting to put behind them last Friday's 4-1 defeat by Croatia by taking on fellow Euro 2021 hosts Slovenia in the town of Celje, an opponent who started their focus on this tournament a couple of months earlier than Hungary and who have already achieved some notable results, including victory over Switzerland and draws against England and France.

Gera's side lined up in a new tactical formation, using a three-man defence and including no fewer than five players who were absent from the starting lineup against Croatia.

The firat half saw both teams build their tactics on stable defences, Hungary shading possession in the early stages before Slovenia settled into the game too. Neither side created many chances, the visiting team's best opportunity coming when Mátyás Tajti's long-distance shot was tipped around the post for a corner by the home goalkeeper. At the other end, the hosts twice threatened an opening goal but couldn't manage to test Ádám Varga in the away team's goal.

Slovenia opted to make a half-time change but Hungary remained unchanged as the second period got underway and indeed started the better of the two teams, Attila Szalai seeing his 50th-minute header saved. Five minutes later, Slovenia threatened with a shot from 14 metres but Hungary were soon back on the attack, Máté Szabó's trick giving him a chance to shoot in the inside-right position but his shot towards the bottom left corner was well saved by the keeper.

The 58th minute saw the hosts take the lead though, Bence Tóth accidentally handling the ball inside his own penalty area and Jan Mlakar's resultant spotkick finding its way past Varga in goal. Substitutes András Schäfer and Milán Májer entered the fray immediately thereafter but Hungary's attackers couldn't muster any truly clear chances to equalise, Tajti remaining the main threat but his two efforts from long-range both missed the target. Although Hungary tried to press higher, it was to no avail and the scoreline didn't change again before the final whistle, Slovenia prevailing thanks to that second-half penalty.

"I'm satisfied with our approach to the game. Tactically, they did what we'd talked about doing but unfortunately in attack we were inaccurate and we made mistakes with our final pass, so weren't able to break through a very well-organised Slovenia defence. We tried a new formation and that brought to our defensive game what we wanted in that we broke up the opponent's counter-attacks and averted danger from near our goal. In attack though, it is clear we need to improve because against such an organised, defensive opponent, only a more accurate, effective game going forward will yield chances to score", Hungary head coach Zoltán Gera commented after the match.

Our men's U21 national team continue next month with a match away in Northern Ireland followed by a home fixture against Austria with which to finish the year.

Slovenia 1-0 Hungary (HT: 0-0)
Hungary (surnames first): Varga Ádám Gábor - Bolla Bendegúz (Korbély Kristóf, 84.), Varjas Zoltán, Nagy Zsombor, Tóth Bence, Szalai Attila - Kiss Bence (Szabó Bence, 84.), Banó-Szabó Bence (Schäfer András, 63.), Tajti Mátyás - Szabó Máté (Májer Milán, 73.), Bíró Bence.