On Thursday evening, Loki played the 100^th international cup game in the history of the club at Nagyerdei Stadium, which was the second leg of the second qualifying of the UEFA Conference League. Winning 0-1 away against the Armenian Alashkert created a good basis for qualifying but everybody knew that still, the battle had to be fought.

Except János Ferenczi, who was not in the squad because of his injury, everybody was ready to play, so there were no surprises regarding the line-up. The match started in a fantastic atmosphere, the fans gave huge support to the team. Loki started the match dynamically, in the 3^rd minute Balázs Dzsudzsák shot over the goal from long-range, after which Kyziridis also tried and was not far from scoring. In the 10^th minute, Christian Manrique shot sharply from the left wing but it hit the crossbar.

The first chance for Alashkert came in the 18^th minute, when Megyeri saved the close-range shot of Khurtsidze but the opponent took the lead after the corner. Ustinov headed the ball into the center of the goal from 7 meters (0-1).

At this point, it looked like there will be extra time so DVSC tried to fix the situation. In the 29^th minute, Meldin Dreskovic headed over the goal. There were some other dangerous situations in front of the opponent’s goal but no equalizer goal was scored until the halftime.

At the beginning of the second half, in the 51^st minute, DVSC earned a free-kick about 23 meters from the goal, Balázs Dzsudzsák’s ball bounced off the defensive wall. In the 55^th minute, Stefan Loncar shot over the goal from 24 meters but our team still tried to equalize. In the 58^th minute, Balázs Megyeri made a brilliant save when Agdon was in a clear-cut chance. After that, Ádám Bódi came onto the pitch.

In the 66^th minute, Dorian Babunski slid the ball just wide off the goal. Then, Alashkert scored in the 67^th minute: after a quick attack, Mimito shot the ball into the bottom right corner (0-2). So, there was trouble, big trouble, DVSC was on the verge of relegation. During the final minutes, Brandon Domingues and Donát Bárány came on as substitutes but still, there were lots of mistakes in our play.

Finally, the Loki goal came in the final minutes! In the 77^th minute, Domingues came from the right wing and made a great cross, and the arriving Balázs Dzsudzsák shot the ball into the left side of the goal from 12 meters (1-2). Later, both Stefan Loncar and Donát Bárány had their chances and in the 87^th minute, Kutalia kicked Domingues from the back and received a red card, so the guest team was playing undermanned from that point on. No other goals were scored during the extra time (8 minutes), then came the 2×15 minute prolongation.

In the first part of the prolongation, the superiority of Loki was obvious but our team didn’t really have a big chance to score. There was a waiting game on the pitch, in the 98^th minute, Balázs Dzsudzsák shot over the goal. Antonio Mance also came on (he had a huge chance) but the decision was left for the last 15 minutes, and as it turned out, it went to penalties.

In the 106^th minute, the opponent goalkeeper Cancarevic brilliantly saved at first Donát Bárány’s, then Antonio Mance’s clear-cut chance. The spectators saw a real cup battle and experienced dramatic excitements at the stadium. The game was resumed for lots of minutes, and Joao Oliveira, who came on as a substitute in the 109^th minute, shot over the goal from a really close distance. Then came the penalties.

Yadigariyan missed it (Balázs Megyeri punched out the ball), Ádám Bódi scored (1-0), Mimito shot wide off the goal, Mance shot at the top right corner and scored (2-0), Muzek converted the goal (2-1), Donát Bárány also scored (3-1), however, Balázs Megyeri saved Fatai’s shot, and that’s how DVSC qualified for the next round with a 2-2 final score and penalties.

Our next opponent on the international stage is the 32-time Austrian champion, Rapid Wien. The first leg will be on August 10 in Vienna, while the second leg will be on August 17 in Debrecen.

With the eyes of the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: It was a dramatic match. Perhaps, the spectators enjoyed some parts of these excitements but me, as a coach, like when we control the game. Now, it didn’t happen. I knew that it will be a tough match and it showed up on the pitch as well. We had some tactical and technical mistakes, and lost the second balls lots of times. During several parts of the game, the opponent was better. However, I would like to praise my players because they brought a lot of energy in order to succeed. The goal of Balázs Dzsudzsák kept us alive and the red card changed the game. We are happy but we learned what are those aspects, in which we should still progress.

Vahe Gevorgyan: Congratulations to Debrecen for qualifying for the next round. It was a really good match but I do not agree with some decisions of the referee, such as the red card. From a tactical point of view, both matches, the one in Yerevan and the one in Debrecen, were interesting. We wanted to put high pressure on our opponent but the red card changed the game. Penalties are often down to luck.

UEFA Conference League, second qualifying round, second leg.

DVSC-Alashkert (Armenian) 1-2 (0-1, 1-2, 1-2), in total 2-2, with penalties 3-1.

Nagyerdei Stadium, 10 708 spectators. Referee: Robert Schröder (German).

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyír, Dreskovic, Romanchuk, Manrique (Joao Oliveira, 117.) – Lagator, Loncar (Mance, 99.) – Szécsi (Domingues, 73.), Dzsudzsák, Kyziridis (Bódi, 65.) – Dorian Babunski (Bárány, 73.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Alashkert: Cancarevic – Ustinov, Carrillo (Yadigaryan, 109.), Voskanyan, Muzek – Flores (Mensah, 89.), Wbeymar (Gareginyan, 83.), Khurtsidze (Grigoryan, 106.), Mimito, Racines (Fatai, 61.) – Agdon (Kutalia, 61.). Head coach: Vahe Gevorgyan.

Goal: Dzsudzsák (77.), as well as Ustinov (18.), Mimito (67.).