In the fourth round of the OTP Bank Liga, DVSC hosted defending champions Győr at Nagyerdei Stadium, bringing together two teams that had both competed in European competitions. There was a change in the starting lineup, with Josua Mejías starting as a right-back due to injuries, while young academy graduates Balázs Sain and Flórián Cibla were also named in the starting XI.

The match was preceded by a special ceremony. Rehabilitation specialist and masseur Mihály Dankó has now been working for DVSC for exactly 25 years – a quarter of a century. Our outstanding colleague, who has helped several generations of Debrecen players throughout his time at Loki, was given a well-deserved round of applause as he performed the ceremonial kick-off. Mihály Dankó was congratulated on the occasion by managing director Balázs Makray and sporting director Ádám Bogdán. Congratulations, Misi and thank you!

The match began with an evenly balanced game. The first notable opportunity came in the 7th minute, when Djukanovic headed just wide following Győr’s corner. DVSC responded in the 15th minute, when Vilmos Dénes unleashed a powerful shot from 18 metres, but Petrás was able to make the save.

On both sides, the final passes were missing to create a clear-cut chance, and neither team came particularly close to scoring during the opening half-hour. However, there were some promising situations: in the 24th minute, Balázs Sain’s shot was blocked in the last moment, while in the 27th minute, Flórián Cibla headed over. Our players continued to work hard in the 33–34°C heat, and in the 30th minute, Ákos Szendrei came close with a header following Balázs Dzsudzsák’s cross.

In the period leading up to half-time, Loki clearly took control of the game and created several promising attacking situations. However, it was the visitors who found the net before the break. In the 41st minute, a low ball played back from the goal line found Gavric, who calmly tapped it into the net from around 10 metres (0-1).

Dávid Patai came on at the start of the second half, with Gergő Tercza, Kaye Shedrach and Botond Vajda also came off the bench later on. DVSC tried to put serious pressure on Győr in search of an equaliser and their efforts paid off. In the 50th minute, following a fine attacking move, Ákos Szendrei set up Adrian Guerrero, who confidently found the bottom-left corner from eight metres (1-1). The equaliser was secured and Loki continued to push forward.

In the last 30 minutes, our team was pushing for the winning goal, while Győr defended and occasionally threatened on the counter. In the 58th minute, Petrás produced an excellent save to deny Flórián Cibla’s powerful strike, while Bumba also caused danger at the other end.

In the 64th minute, following a deflected cross from Vilmos Dénes, the ball struck the crossbar. The same thing happened again in the 72nd minute, when Bence Batik’s header crashed against the woodwork. Loki continued to apply pressure and won a series of corners, with the visitors twice clearing the ball close to their own goal line. In the closing stages, DVSC threw everything forward in search of a winning goal, but ultimately had to settle for a draw.

The next match will be away against Kisvárda on Sunday.

According to the coach

Gert Remmel: I am proud of our performance, especially of what we showed in the second half. We defended well, played the ball forward, had more shots on goal and won the ball back quickly in the opposition half on numerous occasions. This is the Debrecen we want to see, this is the level we are aiming and working for.

Efrain Juarez: We had enough chances to win the game, so I am a little disappointed. We dominated the match for the first 50 minutes, but after that, the opposition were able to make better use of their fresh players.

OTP Bank Liga, round 4.

DVSC-ETO FC 1-1 (0-1).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 5074 spectators. Referee: Berke B.

DVSC: Andrejev – Mejías, Lang, Batik, Guerrero – Boskovic (Tercza, 70.), Sain (Patai, 46.) – Dénes V., Dzsudzsák, Cibla (Vajda, 78.) – Szendrei Á. (Shedrach, 78.). Head coach: Gert Remmel.

Győr: Petrás – Bíró B., Umathum, Urblík N., Krpic, Stefulj – Décsy (Njie, 72.), Bumba (Balogun, 85.), Gavric (Huszár, 85.), Szép – Djukanovic. Head coach: Efrain Juarez.

Goal: Guerrero (50.) as well as Gavric (41.).

Yellow card: Boskovic (54.), Dzsudzsák (54.), Mejías (83.) as well as Krpic (62.), Bíró B. (93.).