OTP Bank Liga 2023/2024

Very important three points: DVSC-Paks 1-0

DVSC hosted Paks on the final match of the 13th round on Sunday evening. Due to injury, Hamzat Ojediran and Alexandros Kyziridis were missing this time. Among the starting eleven were Meldin Dreskovic and Christian Manrique, who have recovered from their injuries. Botond Vajda and Ádám Bódi were also on the pitch from the first minute of the match.

Before the game, the club’s management greeted Tibor Dombi on the occasion of his 50th birthday amidst the ovation of the fans.

The match started truly in the 4th minute, with a long-range shot of Ferenczi that rolled wide of the goal. Paks were pressing, while Loki tried to pay attention to the transitions but there were a lot of mistakes. In the 8th minute, Windecker shot over the goal from a good position, and then in the following period, the field play dominated.

The first bigger chance came in the 23rd minute, when Silye missed the target from 9 meters. Loki had no dangerous shots until the 32nd minute, when Donát Bárány shot wide of the goal from 13 meters. Then, in the 37th minute, Loki took the lead! After a good left-sided cross from Bódi, Stefan Loncar nodded the ball to Donát Bárány, who headed towards the goal from 8 meters. Szappanos deflected the ball, then Botond Vajda tapped it into the net from close range (1-0). No more goals were scored until the break.  

At the beginning of the second half, in the 47th minute, Donát Bárány headed just wide of the goal. Shortly thereafter, Szappanos saved Stefan Loncar’s sliding attempt and then Meldin Dreskovic’s header, so the performance of Loki seemed to improve. At this time, our team were dominating more, and for the last 30 minutes, Zsombor Bévárdi and Oleksandr Romanchuk came on as substitutes (later Joao Oliveira, as well as Brandon Domingues and Andrija Majdevac also came for the endgame).

In the 74th minute, Balázs Megyeri made a brilliant save to deny the close-range header of Hahn. Szappanos did the same at the side of the pitch, when he denied the shot of János Ferenczi. During the endgame, the fight intensified (Balázs Dzsudzsák almost scored), and in the 88th minute, we earned a legitimate penalty for Zsombor Bévárdi being fouled but our team captain’s penalty kick was saved by the goalkeeper of Paks. During the eight-minute extra time, Loki saved its advantage and earned very important three points.

We will continue in two weeks in Zalaegerszeg.

According to the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: It was a tough match. There was a big pressure on the team, because of which we didn’t make good decisions in the first half and lost a lot of balls. Paks showed why are they standing at the top of table, so it was not easy for us. In my opinion, it was the character of the team that made us win, the players put a lot of energy into the game. We can play better but I’m glad that we won. Thanks for the support of the fans during the whole season.

György Bognár: I’m angry because we did not deserve to lose. DVSC also played well but we had a lot of chances to earn points. In critical situations, decisions that were not favorable to us and seemed inexplicable were made, including the possibility of red cards or penalties.

OTP Bank Liga, round 13.

DVSC-Paks 1-0 (1-0).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 4144 spectators. Referee: Rúsz M.

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyir, Dreskovic, Lagator, Ferenczi – Loncar, Manrique (Romanchuk, 67.) – Vajda (Bévárdi, 67.), Dzsudzsák (Domngues, 91.), Bódi (Joao Oliveira, 76.) – Bárány (Majdevac, 91.). Vezetőedző: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Paks: Szappanos – Osváth (Beke, 85.), Kinyik, Lenzsér, Szabó J. – Mezei Sz. (Szabó B., 68.), Windecker, Papp K., Silye (Kovács K., 38.) – Horváth K. (Skribek, 68.), Pesti Z. (Hahn, 68.). Vezetőedző: Bognár György.

Goal: Vajda (37.).

Yellow card: Ferenczi (29.), Kusnyir (40.), Loncar (53.), Lagator (56.), Megyeri (93.), as well as Lenzsér (43.).