OTP Bank Liga: Wins for top two and bottom three

Diósgyőr 0-1 Ferencváros

Goalscorer: Zubkov (15’)

Diósgyőr: Danilović - Shestakov, Polgár, Brković, Tamás - Iszlai, Vági (Tabaković, 71’) - Hasani, Rui Pedro, Korbély (Bacsa, 61’) – Ivanovski (Prosser, 76’)

Ferencváros: Dibusz – Lovrencsics (Botka, 64’), Blažič, Frimpong, Civic Kharatin, Sigér - Zubkov, Škvarka (Ihnatenko, 78’), Isael (Nguen, 64’) - Signevich

A fifteenth-minute direct free-kick by Oleksandr Zubkov was enough for Ferencváros to maintain their four-point lead at the top of the table going in to the winter break, the Ukrainian winger’s dipping, swerving effort from 27 yards eluding Branislav Danilović as the Budapest side extended their unbeaten run to twelve matches.

Ihor Kharatin then came close to doubling Ferencváros’s lead in the 24th minute, his blistering shot from distance skimming the crossbar before Isael fired just wide, whilst at the other end Dénes Dibusz thwarted Florent Hasani during a first half in which the visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession.

Dibusz again had to look lively in the 52nd minute, tipping the ball over the bar to deny Hasani a free-kick goal from an almost identical position to Zubkov’s earlier one, but that was as close as the home side came to equalising in the second half despite being much improved compared to the first, their play ultimately lacking penetration in the final third. Ferencváros, whilst visibly less of an attacking threat in the second half, still came close when Tokmac Nguen forced Danilović into a save late on and were worthy of the three points as they recorded their first clean sheet in seven matches.

Kisvárda 0-2 Fehérvár
Goalscorers: Rubus (42’, own-goal), Pátkai (47’)
Kisvárda: Zöldesi - Hey, Kravchenko, Rubus, Protić - Lucas, Karasyuk (Bumba, 71’) - Gosztonyi (Hugo Seco, 46’), Tsoukalas, Kovácsréti (Tischler, 46’) - Grozav
Fehérvár: Kovácsik - Stopira, Musliu (Fiola, 92’), Juhász R., Rus - Pátkai, Elek - Nego, Kovács I., Petriak (Nikolov, 75’) - Futács (Milanov, 89’)

Fehérvár bounced back from last week’s home reverse at the hands of Paks, a goal either side of half-time bringing them a 2-0 victory on the road at Kisvárda. Márkó Futács squandered a great opportunity to put Joan Carillo’s side ahead in the 6th minute, shooting wide with only goalkeeper Illés Zöldesi to beat. Zöldesi then denied Ivan Petriak and the Ukrainian winger fired just wide of the goal not long after. Fehérvár pressure eventually paid off in the 42nd minute, Tamás Rubus turning a Stopira cross into his own net with Futács ready to pounce, to deservedly lead 1-0 at the half-time break.

Fehérvár doubled their lead within two minutes of the restart, Máté Pátkai heading in an István Kovács cross from close-range, and although Kisvárda rallied briefly, belief appeared to desert them as the half wore on. Zöldesi thwarted Adrian Rus, Stopira headed wide right in front of goal, and Ákos Elek saw a long-range drive come off the crossbar as the visitors went in search of a third goal, while at the other end Patrik Tischler came closest for Kisvárda. The result sees Fehérvár move four points clear of Mezőkövesd in second, whilst Kisvárda remain seventh.

Paks 1-0 Mezőkövesd
Goalscorer: Windecker (11’)
Paks: Rácz G. - Osváth, Lenzsér, Gévay, Kelemen, Szabó J. - Windecker, Simon Á. (Papp K., 38’), Kecskés (Báló, 89’) - Könyves (Kulcsár), Böde
Mezőkövesd: Szappanos - Eperjesi (Farkas D., 53’), Pillár, Nesterov, Silye - Bertus, Karnitsky - Pekár (Takács T., 70’), Cseri, Nagy D. - Zivzivadze

Mezőkövesd lost for the second week in a row but they still remain three points clear of Puskás Akadémia who are behind them in fourth. Having succumbed to a late Rui Pedro winner at home against Diósgyőr last Saturday, this time Attila Kuttor’s lost out to a 11th-minute József Windecker goal, the midfielder gifted an easy tap-in after a mix-up in defence between Péter Szappanos and Erik Silye.

Mezőkövesd squandered a great opportunity to equalise not long after the break, Dániel Nagy shooting wide from right in front of goal, but Paks held firm to take all three points as they followed up from last Saturday’s victory in Fehérvár with another victory which brings them to within two points of Debrecen and Diósgyőr.

Puskás Akadémia 0-1 Zalaegerszeg
Goalscorer: Bobál G. (57’)
Puskás Akadémia: Hegedüs L. - Szolnoki, Meissner, Hadzhiev, Spandler - van Nieff, Radics (Sós 68’) - Gyurcsó, Knežević, Henty - Vaněček Zalaegerszeg: Demjén - Bolla, Bobál D., Lesjak, Bedi - Radó (Holodyuk 78’), Kiss M., Kocsis G., Stieber (Szépe 89’) - Bobál G., Ikoba (Grumić 85’)

Zalaegerszeg were another struggling side to pick up their second victory in as many matches, Gergely Bobál proving the match-winner against Puskás Akadémia at the Pancho Aréna in Felcsút. The hosts were reduced to ten men as early as the 14th minute, Bulgarian central defender Kamen Hadzhiev red-carded for a last-man challenge on Eduvie Ikoba near the halfway line.

Neither side created many outright goalscoring opportunities, Ádám Gyurcsó coming closest for Puskás and Lajos Hegedüs denying first András Radó and then Zoltán Stieber, but when the ball fell for Bobál, unmarked, right in front of goal following Radó’s knock-down in the 57th minute, there was little the goalkeeper could do as the young striker fired home on the half-volley. Puskás came close to equalising when Patrik Demjén clawed away a Bence Sós header with 15 minutes left to play, but Zalaegerszeg held on for all three points.

Honvéd 0-0 Újpest
Honvéd: Tujvel - Batik, Kamber, Lovrić - Uzoma, Kesztyűs (Kukoč, 91’), Vadócz (Banó-Szabó, 68’), Nagy G., Aliji - Lanzafame, Moutari (Cipf, 87’)
Újpest: Banai - Pauljević, Heris, Ristevski, Bureković - Sanković - Onovo, Nwobodo, Zsótér, Bjarnason (Simon, 46’) - Feczesin

Honvéd and Újpest played out a goalless draw in the Budapest Derby at the Új Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, in a match with little goalmouth action. Davide Lanzafame fired over on the turn and Amadou Moutari dragging the ball wide for Honvéd, whilst at the other end Róbert Feczesin was foiled by Ivan Lovrić just as he was about to shoot and Tomáš Tujvel palmed away a Donát Zsótér effort. Honvéd head coach Giuseppe Sannino was sent to the stand after an hour, the main incident of note in a second half in which neither goalkeeper was seriously tested. The result means that both Újpest and Honvéd move to within a point of fourth-place Puskás Akadémia.

Kaposvár 4-1 Debrecen
Goalscorers: KAP: Balázs (10’), Nagy R. (45’, 49’), Tömösvári (90’); DEB: Adeniji (51’)
Kaposvár: Pogacsics - Vachtler, Úr, Szabó A., Fodor (Hadaró, 70’) - Szakály A., Nagy J. - Nagy R., Balázs (Nagy K., 85’), Csiki (Tömösvári, 89’) - Ádám
Debrecen: Košický - Bényei (Kundrák, 76’), Szatmári, Pávkovics, Ferenczi - Haris - Varga K. (Kinyik, 58’), Bódi, Tőzsér, Trujić (Adeniji, 46’) - Garba

Kaposvár ended a run of eight consecutive defeats with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Debrecen, a result which ensures they stay eight points away from safety after victories for their nearest rivals Paks and Zalaegerszeg.

Zsolt Balázs set the Somogy County men on their way with the opener in ten minutes, heading past Tomáš Košický after Debrecen had failed to clear from a corner. Martin Ádám and Richárd Nagy both came close to increasing the home side’s lead before Nagy eventually did so on the stroke of half-time with a shot on the turn which was deflected past Košický by Csaba Szatmári.

Nagy got Kaposvár’s third just three minutes into the second half, firing home from seven yards after being teed up by Norbert Csiki, and although Babatunde Adeniji replied almost immediately with a rasping shot for Debrecen, Kaposvár, thanks to some solid goalkeeping from Krisztián Pogacsics, never looked in danger of losing their lead. Indeed, they added a fourth goal late on, substitute Bálint Tömösvári curling a shot in off the post from sixteen yards in the 90th minute to compound Debrecen’s misery.

The OTP Bank Liga now takes a six-week winter break, with the action resuming in round 17 on Saturday 25th January.