The first league match of 2024 started in a real derby atmosphere and in decent weather conditions in spite of the fact that it was the beginning of February. Dominik Kocsis, who arrived on Thursday, was not in the squad yet as well as Brandon Domingues, who was out because of a smaller health issue. However, Jorgo Pellumbi and Soma Szuhodovszki, the new winter arrivals, were in the starting eleven.

At the beginning of the game, Loki appeared in a scoring position. In the 3^rd minute, thanks to a brilliant pass from Soma Szuhodovszki Joao Oliveira had a chance to break towards the goal, but he shot wide from 8 meters. The will of Loki was predominant and in the 7^th minute, the goalkeeper of Diósgyőr saved the header of Meldin Dreskovic. Our team was playing well; in the 16^th minute, Donát Bárány headed the ball over the bar from close-range, after which a less eventful period followed. In the final minutes of the first half, in the 37^th minute, the guest team also had a huge chance: Bényei headed over the goal from a few meters, then Balázs Megyeri made a brilliant save to deny Edomwonyi’s shot. Even though Loki was dominating, no goals were scored until the break.

The second half also started with the attacks of DVSC, however, it was Diósgyőr that took the lead. In the 51^st minute, Ágoston Bényei unleashed a shot into the bottom right corner from 16 meters (0-1). Therefore, DVSC found themselves in a difficult situation, moreover, in the 58^th minute, it became even harder as DVTK doubled their avantage: at the end of a quick counter-attack, Jurek headed the ball into the goal from close-range (0-2). From that point on, achieving points required a huge effort, so for this reason, Alexandros Kyziridis, Thor Úlfarsson and Stefan Loncar came on for the last 30 minutes.

Right before that, Loki pulled one back: in the 62^nd minute, Balázs Dzsudzsák scored a beautiful free-kick goal from 24 meters into the top right corner (1-2). Thus, it looked like the endgame was going to be exciting and that’s how it was. Our team did everything for equalizing, in the 75^th minute, Donát Bárány headed the ball over the bar, then in the 77^th minute, Csaba Szatmári received his second yellow card, so he was sent off the pitch.

During the endgame, DVSC put a big pressure on the opponent (while Balázs Megyeri saved a one-on-one situation), and in the 85^th minute, Thor Úlfarrson headed wide off the goal. The equalizer goal came in the 89^th minute! János Ferenczi made a nice pass from the left, and Erik Kusnyir headed the ball with a beautiful movement into the top left corner (2-2). The game ended in a draw, so we will continue against Újpest on Tuesday.

According to the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: From my point of view, it was a stressful game, we played well until we conceded the first goal. At the beginning, we were obviously better, we had our chances, but then the play became chaotic, which I don’t like. I have mixed feelings, I’m a little bit sad because we wanted to win. I would like to praise the players because they could make a comeback after 0-2.

Miklós Simon: I would like to praise my players, however, at the beginning we were too shy. Luckily, we became better organized and I’m proud of my players. We were able to score goals but we couldn’t finish the match.

OTP Bank Liga, 18^th round.

DVSC-Diósgyőr 2-2 (0-0).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 5841 spectators. Referee: Bogár G.

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyir, Dreskovic, Pellumbi, Ferenczi – Szuhodovszki (Loncar, 63.), Manrique (Lagator, 79.) – Szécsi (Úlfarsson, 63.), Dzsudzsák, Joao Oliveira (Kyziridis, 63.) – Bárány. Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Diósgyőr: Odincov – Gera, Szatmári, Lund, Bokros (Stephen, 88.) – Holdampf, Bényei (Popadiuc, 79.) , Jurek (Pernambuco, 64.), Vallejo – Edomwonyi (Acolatse, 64.), Pozeg Vancas (Kampetsis, 79.). Head coach: Miklós Simon.

Goal: Dzsudzsák (62.), Kusnyir (89.) as well as Bényei (51.), Jurek (58.).

Yellow card: Úlfarsson (79.) as well as Szatmári (61., 77.).

Dismissed: Szatmári (77.).