Mixed results for Hungarian clubs in Europe

Another bumper crowd of 18,603 was present in the Groupama Aréna to see Ferencváros take on Maltese champions Valletta on Tuesday evening. After weathering an early period of pressure, Ferencváros took a 19th minute lead, Lasha Dvali getting the merest of touches to a Michal Škvarka corner from the left and the ball rebounding off goalkeeper Henry Bonello’s head and into the net.

Davide Lanzafame and Oleksandr Zubkov were the liveliest of the Ferencváros forwards and they combined to give Fradi a three-goal lead. Firstly, Lanzafame was held by Nicholas Pulis in the penalty are as he attempted to get on the end of a Zubkov free kick, the Italian sending Bonello the wrong way from the resultant penalty in the 36th minute. Then, in the 59th minute, the former Juventus striker clipped the ball over the onrushing Bonello from a tight angle after being played in by his Ukrainian winger.

Sergii Rebrov’s side could well have been five or six goals to the good, Lanzafame and Škvarka especially missing great opportunities to put the tie beyond all reasonable doubt, but a late Valletta goal –  Yuri Jesus Messias converting a Mario Fontanella cross in the 85th minute after the winger had muscled Dvali off the ball on the counter-attack – means that the tie is still far from over. Indeed, Fradi needed a point-blank Dénes Dibusz save in injury time to stop Matteo Picciollo making it 3-2, a scoreline which would have been scant reflection of the home side’s dominance for most of the match. Should Ferencváros progress, their third qualifying round opponents will most likely be Dinamo Zagreb, who won 2-0 away to Saburtalo Tbilisi in their second-round first-leg tie.

Fehérvár, who reached the Europa League group stage last season, took a fifth-minute lead against Vaduz at the Pancho Aréna in Felcsút, Stopira scoring with a stooping header following a corner from the left by Szabolcs Huszti. Despite holding a slight advantage in terms of possession, Marko Nikolić’s side lacked thrust, whilst Vaduz came more and more into the match, albeit without threatening Ádám Kovácsik’s goal. Fehérvár were sharper in the second half, Stopira twice coming close to increasing their lead, before, in added time, Ivan Petriak fired over when well-placed to score and Benjamin Büchel saved Georgi Milanov’s free kick. Should Fehérvár successfully defend their slender lead, their likely round three opponents will be Eintracht Frankfurt.

Honvéd have been leading a nomadic existence of late, their home tie against Romania's Universitatea Craiova being played at ETO Park in Győr due to their temporary homes – MTK’s Új Hidegkuti Stadion and Vasas’ Illovszky Rudolf Stadium – being otherwise booked. Craiova held the upper hand in the opening minutes but they were unable to seriously test Robi Lefkovich in the Honvéd goal. David N’Gog came closest to breaking the deadlock, Mirko Pigliacelli scrambling to divert the former Liverpool striker’s header past the post in a first half which included eight minutes of added time to compensate for stoppages due to head injuries to Stephane Acka and Nicușor Bancu. The second period was a similarly disjointed affair, Craiova looking the slightly more dangerous but both teams visibly struggling to create clear-cut opportunities in the sweltering conditions.

In the final European match involving a Hungarian team this week, Debrecen fell behind to Torino – 7th in last season’s Serie A – in Alessandria in the 20th minute, Sándor Nagy fouling Granata captain Andrea Belotti in the box and the striker converting from the spot. Cristian Ansaldi doubled Toro’s lead from a tight angle not long before half-time and Simone Zaza's close-range header in second-half injury time following an Ansaldi corner means Debrecen have a three-goal deficit to recover from in next Thursday’s second leg at the Nagyerdei Stadion.

Champions League qualifying round 2, first leg

Ferencváros 3-1 Valletta
Goalscorers: FER: Bonello (19’ own goal), Lanzafame (36’ pen, 59’); VAL: Messias (85’)

Europa League qualifying round 2, first leg

Budapest Honvéd 0-0 Universitatea Craiova

Fehérvár 1-0 Vaduz
Goalscorer: Stopira (5’)

Torino 3-0 Debrecen
Goalscorers: Belotti (20’ pen, Ansaldi (42’), Zaza (90+3)