In the second round of the qualifying round of the third European Cup series, the Conference League, Ferencváros got past their opponents easily, while Debrecen got through with more difficulty. The other two Hungarian teams, Zalaegerszeg and Kecskemét, were also eliminated.
Debrecen advanced in a penalty shootout
A week ago, Debrecen won the Armenian Alaskert 1-0 at home, so they could expect the rematch from a very good position. For 18 minutes, Loki was on the verge of advancing, but then Alasker took the lead with a goal by Vitaly Ustinov. In the 67th minute, Sodiq Olamilekan Fatai increased the advantage of the Armenians to two.
Balázs Dzuzdsák’s goal in the 77th minute saved Debrecen from elimination. Ten minutes later, Alaskert striker Levan Kutalia was sent off, so Loki could play the entire overtime with a man advantage. After that, the Armenians defended with ten men, Debrecen worked out bigger and bigger situations one after the other, but they couldn’t score a goal, so the penalties came.
Alaskert had a terrible start to the penalty shootout: Jedigarjan’s weak shot was saved by Balázs Megyeri, and Mimito, who followed it, didn’t even hit the goal. Meanwhile, Debrecen’s kickers made no mistakes, Ádám Bódi, Antonio Mance and Donát Bárány confidently scored their penalty kicks. The third kicker of the Armenians, Mateo Muzek, scored, but the next Fatai made a mistake, his shot towards the lower right corner was saved by Megyeri. Debrecen thus won the penalty shootout 3-1 and advanced.
Their opponent in the next round will be the Austrian Rapid Wien. The first match will be played in Vienna on August 10, and the second leg will take place a week later, on August 17, at the Nagyerdei Stadium.
Fradi also brought the obligatory
After the BL elimination against KÍ Klaksvík from the Faroe Islands, Ferencváros met the Irish Sharmrock Rovers in the Conference League. Fradi won 4-0 in the Groupama Arena, so the duel was decided in the first match.
In the second leg in Ireland, only the Hungarian champion scored a goal: Kristoffer Zachariassen scored in the 31st minute and Samy Mmaee scored in the 90th minute. Fradi thus won 2-0, and they beat Sharmrock 6-0 overall. Ferencváros will be the opponent of Hamrun Spartans from Malta in the third round of the qualifiers. The first leg will be held in Malta on August 10, and the second leg a week later, on August 17.
It doesn’t work against the Latvians
Last week, Kecskemét won 2-1 at home against Latvian Riga FC. KTE, the silver medalist in the championship, started well in the return match: in the 8th minute, Levente Vágó took advantage of an aggressive jump shot after an attack.
However, Kecskemét’s game dropped in the second half, and Riga scored two goals. In the 62nd minute, Congolese Ngonda Muzinga headed in KTE’s goal from close range, and at the very end of regular time, in the 95th minute, Riga’s other Congolese player, Gauthier Mankenda, also scored. A minute later, Riga could have scored the goal to advance, but the goalpost saved Kecskemét.
At the beginning of the twice 15-minute extra time, Kecskemét had a couple of minor chances, but they could not score. Riga, on the other hand, knew: in the extra time, in the 122nd minute, Mouhamed Ngom from Senegal scored another goal from a free kick, which sent the Latvian team through.
Two years ago, another Latvian team, RFS, eliminated Puskás Academy with a score of 5-0 in the qualifiers of the Conference League.
Zalaegerszeg had no chance
In the first match of the match, Zalaegerszeg lost 1-0 in Eszék. In the second leg, Osijek took the lead in the 9th minute thanks to an own goal by Bence Gergényi. In the middle of the second half, they doubled their lead with a goal by Josip Spoljaric. In the 82nd minute, Eduvie Ikoba scored the equalizer for ZTE, but the equalizer fell short. Thus, Osijek advanced with a total of 3-1.
The main sponsor of the Eszékes is Lőrinc Mészáros, the club also got a new, modern stadium, which was presented to Hungary’s richest man in June. Eszék has a chance to appear in the main draw.
2023-08-03 22:07:30
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