Following Thursdays’s 1-0 victory against Pyunik Yerevan, DVSC started the league at home on Sunday, hosting a strong Puskás Akadémia at Nagyerdei Stadium. Among the starting XI were a few young players, such as Gergő Tercza, Dávid Patai and Máté Macsó as well as Bence Batik, Josua Mejías, Rotem Keller and the recently signed striker, Ákos Szendrei. Thus, academy graduates played a major role as Gergő Tercza and Dávid Patai both started, while Benedek Erdélyi, Imre Egri, Balázs Sain and Flórián Cibla were also included in the squad. Moreover, captain Balázs Dzsudzsák, Márk Szécsi and Erik Kusnyir, who are also homegrown players, also prove that Debrecen’s youth development system continues to produce outstanding talent.

At the beginning of the match, Loki took the initiative and had more possession of the ball. However, the guest team created the first clear-cut chance during the match and took the lead. In the 12th minute, after losing the ball in the midfield, Lukács made a right-sided cross in the penalty area and the arriving András Németh shot the ball into the net from close range (0-1).

Thus, DVSC faced a tough challenge, but our team tried to respond positively. In the 18th minute, after an excellent pass from Blaz Boskovic, Balázs Dzsudzsák made a shot from 17 meters, but the goalkeeper of Puskás Akadémia made a huge save. Loki attacked and in the 20th minute, Ákos Szendrei headed the ball over the goal, following a cross by Máté Macsó. However, in the 29th minute, it was Puskás Akadémia that scored: András Németh calmly rounded both the defenders and the goalkeeper before rolling the ball into the bottom-right corner to make it 0-2. Before the break, Dzsudzsák’s dangerous free-kick came closest to pulling one back for our team, while the visitors also squandered several promising opportunities. The score remained unchanged until half-time.

Flórián Cibla came on for the second half as well as Leon Myrtaj, who made his debut for DVSC. In the 48th minute, Dávid Patai made a powerful shot from a distance, but it went over the goal and not long after, Blaz Boskovic headed wide of the goal following a corner. In the 55th minute, Flórián Cibla shot the ball towards the goal, but the guest team’s goalkeeper saved it.

Sohan Baldoni came off the bench for the last 30 minutes, followed later by Balázs Sain and Adrian Guerrero. In the meantime, our team led several promising attacks, but the goal was not coming. Puskás Akadémia remained dangerous on the counter-attack, while Loki kept pushing forward. In the 70th minute, Dávid Patai’s effort drifted just wide of the target, and in the 81st minute, Sohan Baldoni’s header was dramatically cleared off the goal line. Even though Loki’s play improved after the break, our team could not earn any points in the league-opener.

The next match will be on Thursday against Pyunik Yerevan in Armenia, which will be the return leg for Loki in the Conference League.

According to the coach

Gert Remmel: It was a match of two halves. I’m taking the responsibility for this match, maybe in the first half we were not ready. After the press conference, we will be heading to Pallag and will analyze what happened and what caused the problems. The next task is immediately coming in Yerevan, so from tomorrow, we will focus on that.

Levente Babó: At times, we were fighting heroically in the second half, but we could have scored even more goals in the first half. It was a back-and-forth game, but overall, I would like to thank the players and the staff for the opportunity to have made my debut in the first-division with a victory.

OTP Bank Liga, round 1.

DVSC-Puskás Akadémia 0-2 (0-2).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 5317 spectators. Referee: Berke B.

DVSC: Andrejev – Tercza, Mejías, Batik, Keller (Guerrero, 80.) – Boskovic (Sain, 74.), Patai – Kocsis D., Dzsudzsák (Myrtaj, 46.), Macsó (Cibla, 46.) – Szendrei Á. (Baldoni, 58.). Head coach: Gert Remmel.

Puskás Akadémia: Lehoczki – Ormonde-Ottewill, Golla, Arutjunjan, Szolnoki – Okeke, Kern (Varga Zs., 84.) – Soisalo (Nagy Z., 70.), Lukács D., (Krupa, 84.), Mondovics (Dárdai P., 59.) – Németh A. (Colley, 70.). Head coach: Babó Levente.

Goal: Németh A. (12., 29.).

Yellow card: Patai (45.), Mejías (63.) as well as Kern (31.), Colley (71., 93.), Golla (73.).

Sent-off: Colley (93.).