January 21, 2022
Round 17 of the
Hungarian OTP Bank Liga completed on December 19th, and the season
resumes on January 27th with a
catch-up match from round 4 between Puskas and Ferencvaros, with round 18
being played the following weekend.
These diaries reviewed
2019/20 season and more details of each club can be found in that article.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/07/review-of-201920-hungary-otp-bank-liga.html
Ferencvaros have won last 3 championships, the last by 20
points and losing only one match in the process. The league looks like being a
much closer contest this time round with the top three sides currently only
separated by 4 points.
The champions
unexpectedly lost 1-2 at home to Kisvarda in the opening round, after which
they won 6 matches on the trot including an important 1-0 win at Fehervar, but
slipped to another 1-2 home loss, this time to Zalaegerszegi TE. Their
stuttering home form continued with a 0-0 draw with MTK, but they then reeled
off 4 more wins before being held 1-1 at home by rivals Puskas Academy. Their
100% away record ended in a 0-2 loss in Debrecen. Albanian international
attacker Myrto Uzuni is rated by Transfermrkt as the league’s most valuable player
at 3.5M Euros, and he has contributed 7 goals. However, ex-Standard Liege Belgian
Morocco Ryan Mmaee is the leading scorer with 8.
In the winter break
Fradi have signed Nigerian striker Fortune Bassey, who scored 9 goals in the
Czech Fortuna Liga for Ceske Budejovice, for 1.5M Euros, and young Croatian
striker Roko Baturina has returned from a loan spell at Lech Poznan.
Kisvarda, located close to the borders with Slovakia and
Ukraine in the north-east of the country, have been the surprise of the season
to sit in second place one point behind Ferencvaros, albeit from a game more. They
followed up their unexpected opening day win at Ferencvaros by winning 6 out of
their first 7 matches, including another impressive win, at title contenders
Puskas, with a 1-2 loss at Fehervar the only blemish, before a second loss, at
Honved where they conceded the winner in added on time after being reduced to
10 men.
Draws with Ujpest and
Paksi followed, before they lost in convincing fashion at home to Ferencvaros,
although three of the goals in a 0-4 defeat came after they had again had a
player sent-off. They finished the year on an unbeaten run of 5 games,
including an important 2-1 home win over Fehervar. Bosnian forward Jasmin Mesanovic has scored 6
goals, followed by Romanian Claudiu Bumba and Czech Jaroslav Navratil, who both
have 5 from midfield.
Kisvarda have been
active during the winter break, signing midfielder Rafal Makowski from Slask
Wroclaw and keeper Mykhaylo Gotra from Ukrainian side FK Uzhgorod.
Puskas Academy are probably the most unpopular club in the OTP Bank
Liga. There is little connection to Puskas, the club are hardly an academy,
producing very few players of their own, they play in a village with a
population of around 2,000 ( Felcsut ), President Orban was involved in the
financing of the club, and there have been allegations of the club receiving
Governmental funding.
They suffered a
dramatic 1-6 loss at home to Paksi in the second match of the season and also
lost their next home match 0-1 to Kisvarda. After a 0-0 draw at Fehervar, 4
wins on the trot were clocked up before another hammering at the hands of
Paksi, 1-4, for their first away loss of the season. They finished the year
unbeaten in 4, albeit 3 of these were drawn although this included holding
Ferencvaros in Budapest. Three midfielders top their scoring charts with 4
goals, namely Czech Jakub Plsek, and Romanians Marius Corbu and Alexandru
Balata.
Fehervar, from the town of Székesfehérvár, were champions in 2017/18 and have finished
in the top three in the subsequent three seasons, so a 4th place
position at the winter break would be a disappointment. They had the best home
record in the division losing only to Ferencvaros and drawing with Puskas
Academy, but won only once away from home ( at MTK ), with losses at Ujpest, Ferencvaros
and Kisvarda. Scoring goals have been a problem for Fehervar, with only 3 sides
having less than their 23, although Bosnian ex- Athletic Bilbao forward Kenan
Kodro scored 9 of them.
Zalaegerszegi TE were in 5th place, but a distant 6 points
off Fehervar. Their best result was winning at Ferencvaros, but they shipped 5
goals at Kisvarda and at home to Paksi. They finished the year unbeaten in 5
matches, which saw them move up from 8th. Mark Koszta was the
top scorer on 9 goals. Winger Alen Skribek has returned to parent club Puskas
Academy after featuring in all 17 games, and has been replaced by two youngster
on loan from Fehervar.
Mezokovesdi SE started with two wins but they went on a run of two
points from 6 matches. A run of 5 matches unbeaten followed, before finishing
the year with 3 defeats in their last 4 matches, although these were against
Ferencvaros, Kisvarda and Fehervar. Just 19 goals were scored, with 5 for Bosnian
Marin Jurina. They have been busy in the transfer market, with the arrivals
including centre-back Andrej Lukic from Croatian side Dragovoljac, Albanian
defender Amir Bilali from Romanians Academica Clinceni Albanian midfielder Kamal
Qaka from North Macedonian side Shkendija and winger Benjamin Babti joined from
ZTE. On the other hand, forward Jakub Vojtus has left to join Rapid Bucharest
and defender Janos Szepe went to MTK.
Paksi FC, from the small town of Paks located 100km south of
Budapest have had a roller coaster of a season so far, having both the most
goals scored and conceded. The highlights include two wins over Puskas Academy
by a margin of 10-2, a 5-2 win at ZTE and a 4-1 at MTK. Other high scoring
matches include a 3-3 draw at home to Debrecen,
a 2-3 home loss to Honved and a 3-4 defeat at Ujpest. The lowest point
though was probably their loss at Gyirmot. Unsurprisingly, they have the
division’s leading goals scorer, portly ex-Kaposvari striker Martin Adam leads the way
with 15 whilst Mate Sajban has 7 goals.
After a 10th
place finish in 2020/21, Honved FC have shown signs of improvement this
season. After losing their first two games, 4 wins and a draw in the next 6
took them up to 4th but 6 losses in the last 9 matches saw them slid
down the table. Their best result was probably the 2-1 home win over Kisvarda. After
a glut of goals for TSC Backa Topola in the Serbian Superliga, Nenad Lukic has
led the line with 12 goals so far this season. Ex-Red Star Belgrade and Spartak
Moscow full-back Marko Petkovic has joined during the break, also from TSC Backa
Topla, who are located in a Hungarian speaking part of Serbia, and defensive midfielder
Oleksandr Petusenko has signed from Ukrainian Premier Liga side FK Minaj.
After their unexpected last day relegation at the end of the 2019/20 season, Debreceni VSC regained their top-flight status by winning NBII last season and were expected by a number of pundits to be pushing for a European place this year, so to be sitting in 9th at the winter break has to be a bit of a let-down. Their home form has been solid, with a 4-2-2 record, but they have been let down by a 1-3-5 away record. Hopes must have been high after a startling 4-1 win at Honved in the opening round but their form thereafter has had little consistency.
The highpoints of their season so
far were the comfortable 2-0 win at home to Ferencvaros, a 5-0 thumping of
Gyirmot and another goal-fest against Honved ( 5-3 at home ). Striker Roland
Ugrai has found the net 9 times whilst ex-PSV and Dynamo Moscow veteran Balasz
Dzsudszak has scored 6 goals. Their major signing in the winter break to-date
has been paying a reported 100k Euros for North Macedonian centre-forward
Dorian Babunski from Botev Vratsa, who joins his brother David who was already
at the club.
Ujpest FC, Cup winners in 2020/21 have had a poor first half to
the season, although three wins in their last 5 matches saw them move off the
bottom of the table. They had to wait until their 10th match of the
season to claim their first victory, upsetting Fehervar 1-0, and wins over Debrecen
( 3-1 ), Honved ( 2-1 away ) and Paksi ( 4-3 ) eventually followed. Ex-Lokeren
Georgian winger Georgi Beridze has scored 5 times, whilst former Leuven and KV Mechelen
French midfielder Yohan Croizet has chipped in with 4 goals. Serbian left-back
Nemanja Antonov has been ever-present.
After a 7th
placed finish last season, MTK Budapest have disappointed so far in the
current campaign. With just 5 points from 8 games they have the worst away
record in the division, 4 of which came in their first two trips, which helped
them to 7 points after 4 rounds and second place in the table. It has been
downhill since, with their last 10 matches yielding just one win ( 2-1 at home
to Ujpest thanks to a 96th minute penalty ), with their earlier
victories being 1-0 at home to Honved
& Mezokovesdi, and at Ujpest ( 2-1 ).
Only 13 goals have
been scored, of which 22 year old North Macedonian international Bojan Miovski
( 2 caps ) has claimed 7 of them, with ex-Romanian International Gheorghe Grozav
getting 4 of the other 6. Ex-Manchester United and Bolton midfielder James Weir
played 14 matches after signing from Slovakian side FK Pohronie in the summer, and
MTK have signed ex-Portsmouth, Leicester and Blackpool forward Marko Futacs
from Olimpia Ljubljana at the start of January in a bid to improve their potency
in front of goal. Slovak left-back Branislav Sluka has also joined from MSK
Zilina.
Gyirmot FC, from a suburb of the city of Gyor in the North-West
of the country close to Slovakia, were promoted as runners up in NBII and have
predictably struggled. Since an opening day draw at home to MTK Budapest they
have been in the bottom three all season. Consecutive wins were registered in
October, at Ujpest ( 3-1 ) and at home to Paksi ( 2-1 ), with a further success
coming at MTK ( 3-0 ) at the start of November. They ended the year with just
two points from the final 5 matches. Striker Barnabas Vargas has scored 6 times,
and in an effort to avoid relegation, Slovak midfielder Denis Ventura has just
been signed from Romanian side Academica Clinceni, the talented Belarus
international Vladislav Klimovich has joined from Dinamo Minsk, and ex-Oxford
United & Slavia Prague winger Nino van Gessel has also been recruited.
Attendances
Attendances so far
have generally been unaffected by Covid limitations. Ferencvaros have been the
best supported side so far, with an average of 8,216, followed by Debrecen with
4,063 then Honved with 2,829. Not surprisingly, the worst supported side was
Puskas Academy with an average of 756, with an overall average for the division
of 2,526.
The highest attendance was the 17,349 who attended the Ferencvaros vs Ujpest derby.
European Campaigns
Ferencvaros had a decent run in the Champions League, but failed
to get through the final qualifying round. Wins were achieved over Kosovan side
Prishtina ( 6-1 on aggregate ), Lithuanians FK Zalgiris ( 5-1 ) and Czech
Champions Slavia Prague ( 2-1 ) but two 2-3 defeats to Young Boys Berne saw
them exit the competition.
Dropping down to the
Europa League group stages, Ferencvaros lost their first 5 matches before an
academic 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in their final match. Matches had been
lost to Real Betis ( H 1-3, A 0-2 ), Celtic ( H 2-3, A 0-2 ) and Bayer
Leverkusen ( A 1-2 ). Ryan Mmaee was their top scorer in Europe with 5 goals.
Cup-Winners Ujpest
started their Europa Conference campaign with two wins over Liechtenstein side
FC Vaduz ( 5-2 on aggregate ) but FC Basel were too strong in the next round
with a 0-4 loss in Switzerland resulting in a 1-6 aggregate loss.
Fehervar fell at their first hurdle in the Europa Conference, crashing
out to Armenian side FC Ararat after a 0-2 away loss meant elimination 1-3 on
aggregate.
Puskas Academy fared even worse, crashing out to Latvian side RFS
Riga 0-5 over the two legs.
Round 4
Thursday 27th
January, 2022
Puskas Academy vs
Ferencvaros
Round 18
Saturday 29th
January, 2022
Paksi SE vs Zalaegerszegi
TE
Debreceni VSC vs
Kisvarda FC
Budapest Honved vs
Gyirmot FC
Sunday 30th
January 2022
Puskas FC vs Fehervar
FC
Mezokovesdi SE vs MTK
Budapest
Ujpest FC vs Ferencvaros TC
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