OTP Bank Liga 2023/2024

Three out of three: DVSC-Kisvárda 4-1

During the championship game against Kisvárda on Monday, Erik Kusnyír was out of the squad because of injury, while János Ferenczi was back on track. Among the starting eleven were Nimród Baranyai, Brandon Domingues and Alexandros Kyziridis, so Loki was preparing for impulsive attacks.

The match started with a minute of silence: after a serious illness, Mária Garamvölgyiné Joó, the wife of our legendary coach Lajos Garamvölgyi, passed away at the age of 69. Her memory will be forever preserved by her children, relatives, friends and all members of the DVSC family.

At the beginning of the game, Loki was dominating and in the 3rd minute, the goalkeeper of Kisvárda saved Dorian Babunski’s shot from 12 meters. However, in the 7th minute, Loki was already leading: after a beautiful attack, Balázs Dzsudzsák gave a through ball to Alexandros Kyziridis, who broke into the box, evaded the defender and made a tremendous shot into the top corner of the near post (1-0).

After that, Kisvárda tried to play a more attractive style of football but our team’s dominance and control continued to prevail. So much so that in the 29th minute, Brandon Domingues had a big chance to score but the defenders tackled in the last moment. Consequently, in the 30th minute, Makowski unleashed a shot towards the goal from 18 meters, which hit the crossbar. In the final minutes of the first half, there were less chances and more play on the midfield, so the teams went on a break with a 1-0 score.  

For the second half, Kisvárda made two substitutions, pushed their defensive line higher and tried to press. The equalizer came in the 52nd minute: from 12 meters out, Vida shot the ball into the net from the centre (1-1). A new situation emerged and more energy was needed for success.

At this stage of the game, there were a lot of inaccuracies in the play of DVSC and 30 minutes before the end, Ádám Bódi, Zsombor Bévárdi and Donát Bárány came on as substitutes. Our team took back the initiative, put some pressure on the opponent and in the 76th minute, Stefan Loncar was fouled inside the box, so Loki was awarded a penalty. Balázs Dzsudzsák capitalized on the rightful penalty and our team took back the advantage (2-1).

Oleksandr Romanchuk and Márk Szécsi also came on for the endgame, and Loki decided the match in the 84th minute. Balázs Dzsudzsák moved forward and passed to Stefan Loncar, who dribbled within the box and shot into the bottom right corner from 11 meters (3-1). In the 95th minute, Ádám Bódi shot a beautiful free-kick goal into the right corner of the goal from 25 meters, which was just the icing on the cake.

Loki is undefeated since the last 9 league matches, including the end of the previous season, and after the 4th round, DVSC is leading the table with 3 victories at home. Our next opponent will be MTK on Sunday, the match starting at 3:30 pm at Nagyerdei Stadium.

According to the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: I would like to say thanks to my players, I’m aware of the fact how difficult it was to play today. There was a big pressure on the team because of the defeat against Rapid. We scored an early goal but could not increase our advantage until the break. The toughest part of the match was when we conceded the equalizer. At this hard moment, our ultras supported us, for which I’m really grateful as these are the periods when we need the most support. The penalty decided the match. The result is 4-1 but it was really tough, especially mentally.

Máté Gerliczki: Our plan was to place our defense high but this pressing didn’t work and we conceded an early goal. Afterwards, we organized our lines, knowing that we would have some chances. We started the second half well, we equalized and could even score more goals. Then came one mistake within the box and we lost the match at the end.

OTP Bank Liga, 4th round.

DVSC-Kisvárda 4-1 (1-0).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 4011 spectators. Referee: Csonka.

DVSC: Megyeri – Baranyai, Dreskovic, Mojzis (Bévárdi, 68.), Manrique (Romanchuk, 81.) – Loncar, Lagator – Kyziridis (Bódi, 68.), Dzsudzsák (Szécsi, 87.), Domingues – Dorian Babunski (Bárány, 68.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Kisvárda: Kovács M. – D. Kovacic (Ilievski, 83.), Jovicic, Széles – Camaj, Lucas (Melnyik, 73.), Vida K., Makowski (Spasic, 46.), Ötvös (Szőr, 46.) – Navratil, Mesanovic (Balogh N., 73.). Acting head coach: Máté Gerliczki.

Goal: Kyziridis (7.), Dzsudzsák (77. – from penalty), Loncar (84.), Bódi (95.), as well as Vida (52.).

Yellow card: Mojzis (45+1.), Loncar (84.), as well as Szőr (55.), Camaj (93.).