FOOTBALL NB I
ROUND 29
Fehérvár FC–Zalaegerszegi TE FC 1–1 (Christensen 66. – from 11, or Safronov 86.)
Székesfehérvár, Sóstó Stadium, 3756 viewer. Led by: truncated
You can follow the online broadcast of the meeting by clicking here.
After Paks suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat as a guest of the Puskás Academy on Saturday, Fehérvár FC was able to advance to second place even with a draw. The team has been at such a height for quite some time (specifically following the 19th round of the 2020-2021 season), and it won a silver medal last time in the summer of 2020.
The only thing regarding how far the team led by Bartosz Grzelak has come is that it became certain in the last round of the previous championship year that it would remain in the top flight, and because it started the current season with three defeats, there was no indication of such a turnaround. After seven rounds, Vidi still had only one victory, and although it finished the season in third place, when it lost 2-0 to Ferencváros in the Sóstó Stadium on March 10, it was eleven points behind the second-placed Paks. The difference has now decreased to one point in four rounds, which might be turned into an advantage of up to two points on Sunday.
Let’s add that defeating ZTE, which was still considered by many to be eliminated in the fall, was far from easy. The head coach of Egerszeg, Gábor Márton, defeated his former club 3-0 in the first spring round with his team (he managed Vidit for twenty-one rounds in the 2020-2021 season), except for the 5-1 defeat once morest DVSC, it is not possible to connect the in his performance and can be enveloped, he will also start the next championship year in the top line. In the autumn, in a similar pairing, the result was 3-3, Fehérvár was only able to draw the match with Levente Szabó’s goal scored in the 99th minute – since then, a new countdown has started for both clubs.
In the 10th minute, the home side had their first chance following a corner from the left, but Dávid Dombó hit Mamoudou Karamoko’s shot for a corner, and he did the same with Nicolás Stefanelli’s header a minute later. The penalty might have come, Mim Gergely won the ball in the home team’s half, he teased Antonio Mance brilliantly, but he shot near the right corner in a great situation. In the middle of the half, Mátyás Katona would have done well if he took the shot from a good position, but he took the ball back, and following that he tried in vain, the visiting defense was able to block it. Vidi may have possessed the ball a bit more, but ZTE played very disciplined football, and although the goalkeeper of the home team, Balázs Tóth, did not have to defend, you might feel the danger in his counterattacks.
During the break, none of the head coaches felt the need to make a substitution, and although the host continued to take the initiative, the 50th minute brought an interesting scene in front of the home goal. Mim broke into the penalty area on the right, Schön Szabolcs pushed him from behind, it seemed to us that a penalty would be awarded to ZTE, but the referee didn’t think so, and the VAR didn’t even investigate the case…
Balázs Tóth already had to save Mance’s shot, and following an hour of play, ZTE’s top scorer’s shot saved the home team from a goal. After Karamoko’s jump, Dombó defended, then the French attacker shot the ball near the left corner – both sides tried to get the lead. The home fans rightly held their heads when Pakson, the striker who had scored twice in the previous round, wanted to play Stefanelli instead of a shot in a great position, but not long following, he won a penalty. Tobias Christensen but he didn’t make a mistake (1–0).
Dávid Sigér’s bomb might only be knocked out by the visitors’ goalkeeper, Stefanelli might have doubled the advantage with a header, but he nodded into the left corner, and it cost the host a lot. Dániel Németh’s free kick from the left Oleksandr Safronov rose at the best pace, nodded the ball into the right corner, i.e. ZTE equalized (1–1).
Both teams did a lot to win, the result was a draw, Fehérvár moved up to second place with the one point they gained, and now it depends only on them whether they will win a silver medal at the end of the season.
