The technical staff of Loki was not in an easy situation before the Sunday’s match against Ferencváros, who is the title defender and leader of the table, as Meldin Dreskovic, Alexander Mojzis, Christian Manrique and Joao Oliveira were injured, while Dusan Lagator was missing because of suspension. After all, Loki stepped onto the pitch at Groupama Arena with Erik Kusnyir playing as centre-back, while Nimród Baranyai and Botond Vajda were also in the starting XI.

The match wouldn’t have started worse: by the 16^th second, DVSC already conceded a goal after a defending mistake, when Marquinhos headed the ball from 11 meters over the goalkeeper of Debrecen who came out of the goal (1-0). It was not easy to come back after this punch but our players did everything that they could. The play was equal in the next minutes, however, in the 18^th minute, Balázs Megyeri had to make a big save to deny Abu Fani’s shot.

After that, our defence was shaken again, when after some turmoil following a corner-kick in the 19^th minute, Sammy Mmaee nodded the ball below the bar (2-0). From this time onward, not many people thought that we had a chance to earn points, however, in the 24^th minute, Oleksandr Romanchuk shot just over the goal, then Donát Bárány was tackled in the last moment.

In the second part of the first half, we had less chances (Dibusz denied the close spin of Bárány). DVSC tried to win most of the duels and we managed to do that in some places. We were able to pull one back until the break: at the end of a wise free-kick combination, Botond Vajda shot the ball into the net from 6 meters (2-1).

Both teams made substitutions for the second half, Zsombor Bévárdi and Márk Szécsi came to join our team. Stefan Loncar almost equalized quickly with a close-range shot but Dibusz was able to punch away the ball. The fight was on, the atmosphere was hot and our team decently fought.

In the 60^th minute, Balázs Megyeri had to deny the long-range shot of Botka, then the equalizer came in the 64^th minute! At the end of a quick attack, Brandon Domingues broke into the box, dribbled his defender and shot towards the left side of the goal, so the home goalkeeper could only hit the ball (2-2).

In the final minutes, FTC increased the pressure but DVSC also managed to create dangerous situations. Andrija Majdevac came on as a substitute (then Alexandros Kyziridis and Máté Tuboly at the very end), and the game was exciting. The home team scored an offside goal, then came the endgame, during which Loki did everything that they could (Lisztes was even sent-off) and after the tough start, we deserved to earn this valuable point.

According to the coach

According to the statement of FTC, Dejan Stankovic lost his voice and the assistant coach Leandro spoke at the press conference: It was an intense match. We were leading 2-0 but we didn’t win, it can happen sometimes. Perhaps we thought that we already posess the 3 points. We should not have let the victory slip through our fingers.

Srdjan Blagojevic: It was not easy to play, a lot of players were missing from the squad, moreover, we were at a disadvantage already in the first minute. I asked the players to be themselves no matter who we are up against. After the shock of the first 20 minutes, a small miracle happened, the players were brave and they deserve to be praised. They were wonderful!

OTP Bank Liga, round 9.

FTC-DVSC 2-2 (2-1).

Groupama Arena, 12 793 spectators. Referee: Farkas Á.

FTC: Dibusz – Makreckis (Botka, 46.), S. Mmaee (Cissé, 46.), Ramirez, Wingo – Sigér, Abu Fani – Zachariassen (Owusu, 82.), Ben Romdhan (Pesic, 70.), Marquinhos (Lisztes, 70.) – Varga B. Head coach: Dejan Stankovic.

DVSC: Megyeri – Baranyai (Bévárdi, 46.)), Kusnyir, Romanchuk, Ferenczi – Ojediran, Loncar – Vajda (Szécsi, 46.), Dzsudzsák (Tuboly, 90.), Domingues (Kyziridis, 81.) – Bárány (Majdevac, 72.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Goal: Marquinhos (1.), S Mmaee (19.), as well as Vajda (45+3.), Domingues (64.).

Yellow card: Abu Fani (36.), S. Mmaee (37.), Wingo (52.), Pesic (86.), Lisztes (92, 94..), as well as Ojediran (11.), Bárány (57.), Romanchuk (78.), Bévárdi (85.).

Dismissal: Lisztes (94.).