Before the opening game against Mezőkövesd, there were joyful and sad moments at the same time. As a lead-up to the game, the U14, U15 and U15 teams of the DVSC Football Academy were celebrated because of their national championship titles.

We also held one-minute silence to bid farewell to our fellow supporter, who tragically passed away suddenly. Roland Nagy passed away at the age of 25, leaving an irreplaceable void. He had been part of the DVSC family for long years, supporting the team at home and away since he was a child. Also, the audience commemorated our former player Papp II László, who passed away at the age of 85. The former left-back of DVSC, nicknamed Sutyi, had been a player of the first team of Loki since the age of 17, from 1955 until 1961.

Now, let’s talk about the match. János Ferenczi and Alexander Mojzis were not in the squad because of their injuries, while Brandon Domingues was banned as a result of his red card that he received during the last game of the previous season. On the other hand, among the starting eleven were Joao Oliveira, who arrived this summer, the 19-year-old Botond Vajda, as well as Donát Bárány and Ádám Bódi.

Right from the beginning of the match, it was evident that the guest team was focusing on organized defence and it would not be easy to break through that. The midfield play dominated and the first shot was in the 19^th minute, when Balázs Megyeri confidently saved the curl of David Babunski. In the 22^nd minute, after a cross from Botond Vajda, Joao Oliveira shot from close-range but Piscitelli saved with his leg. Not long after, following a corner, Meldin Dreskovic headed just wide of the goal from 9 meters.

By the middle of the first half, Loki had some chances but in the 27^th minute, Mezőkövesd took the lead due to Drazic, who shot a rebound into the net from 12 meters (0-1). DVSC appeared in a tough situation but reacted well as they equalized already in the 33^rd minute! Stefan Loncar received the ball about 23 meters away from the goal and then brilliantly curled it into the top left corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance to save. It was an amazing goal (1-1)! Until the halftime, no more goals were scored, so the match was decided in the second half.

After the break, in the 47^th minute, Erik Kusnyír’s shot was blocked by the defenders, but in the 55^th minute, Loki turned the game around. Ádám Bódi delivered an excellent cross from the left, and the arriving Stefan Loncar slid the ball into the net from 8 meters to score his second goal (2-1). Our team played superbly during this period, impressing the fans and earning applause multiple times.

Mezőkövesd also tried to score but the superiority of Debrecen was obvious. In the 67^th minute, after a nice dribble, Botond Vajda hit the left bar, then Márk Szécsi and Balázs Dzsudzsák came on as substitutes. In the final minutes, Piscitelli saved Christian Manrique’s clear-cut chance, then Dorian Babunski and Alexandros Kyziridis also came on. There were some exciting moments even in the final minutes but in the 92^nd minute, Dorian Babunski finished the match with a great clear-cut chance (3-1). Thus, Loki won and started the championship with valuable 3 points.

We will continue on Thursday against the Armenian Alashkert in the UEFA Conference League, starting at 9 pm. at Nagyerdei Stadium.

With the eyes of the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: It’s a great pleasure to start the season with a victory. The start of the championship is always difficult though. In the first half, we were too shy and energy was missing, and we also did some basic mistakes. We conceded a goal but the beautiful shot of Stefan Loncar kept us alive. During the halftime, we realized what kind of tactical changes we need to make. These changes were successful, we scored goals, so I’m satisfied with the second half. We don’t have time to celebrate as we have an important match on Thursday. This victory is also a call for our fans to come to the stadium and support us because it helps a lot.

Attila Kuttor: Congratulations to Debrecen, they deserved to win. For a long time, we managed to realize our plans, it worked for some time but then the opponent broke us.

OTP Bank Liga, 1^st round.

DVSC-Mezőkövesd 3-1 (1-1).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 4844 spectators. Referee: Káprály.

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyír, Dreskovic, Romanchuk, Manrique – Lagator, Loncar (Ojediran, 92.) – Joao Oliveira (Szécsi, 70.), Vajda B. (Dzsudzsák, 70.), Bódi (Kyziridis, 78.) – Bárány (Dorian Babunski, 78.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Mezőkövesd: Piscitelli – Kállai, Lukic, Pillár, Filip – Prudnikov (Cseri, 59.), Brtan, David Babunski (Hudák, 75.), Illés (Cseke, 75.), Vajda S. – Drazic. Head coach: Attila Kuttor.

Goal: Loncar (33., 55.), Dorian Babunski (92.), and Drazic (27.).

Yellow card: Lagator (64.), and Lukic (24.), Brtan (29.).