Vasas Vs Szeged: Vasas Take Big Step Towards NBI Return
Vasas took a massive step towards their long-awaited return to NBI thanks to a hard-fought 3-1 victory at home to fellow promotion chasers Szeged on Monday evening. The result moves Vasas 9 points clear of second placed DVTK and 12 points clear of both Szeged and Kecskemet with 6 games remaining.
Visitors Szeged, who had the chance to move level on points with DVTK in second place with a victory, started the match positively and took the game to the home side from the off. Young talisman up front Krisztofer Horvath proving to be nuisance to the Vasas defence with his clever movement across the front line and willingness to drop into space and collect from deep.
With 13 minutes on the clock it was that very action – Horvath dropping deep and stealing back possession – that led to the visitors taking the lead and silencing the home crowd.
After dispossessing Szivacski deep inside the Szeged half, Horvath launched an exquisite cross field pass to Odor on the right flank before embarking on a lung-bursting 60 yard run to join the attack and receive a return pass from Odor.
Having not been tracked by Szivacski while on the run, Horvath was able to easily evade Pekar’s half-hearted attempt to close him down in the box before lifting a left foot effort over Levente Jova and into the roof of the net, ending Jova’s run of 9 consecutive clean sheets.
Buoyed by the opener, Szeged pushed for a quick second and nearly got one on 16 minutes as Bencze rattled Jova’s left-hand post from 25 yards after good work by Horvath once again to regain possession.
Clearly stunned by Szeged’s relentless start, it took Vasas until after the half hour mark to register their first effort on goal as Otigba contrived to hit the bar from 5 yards out following a Patkai flick-on from a Hinora freekick.
With Vasas one down at the break the home fans let their anger boil over as the players left the field with right back Szivacski – who was a fault for the opener – taking the brunt of the abuse.
If the first half belonged to Szeged and Horvath, and it did, then the second must belong to Vasas and Kristof Hinora; with special note to whatever words of wisdom Attila Kuttor delivered to his players at the interval.
Vasas looked like a different team in the second half with 24-year-old Hinora grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck. It was his aggression in midfield to win back possession and excellent diagonal pass that released substitute Cipf down the right-hand side for Vasas’ first big chance of the half. Cipf eventually curling an effort inches wide of the far post.
Moments later Vasas levelled thanks to a thunderbolt from left-back Silye. Following a Hinora corner, Berecz laid the ball back to Iyinbor who, in turn, fed Silye before the full back smashed an unstoppable 25 yard effort past the diving Molnar-Farkas. The keeper got finger-tips to the shot but had no chance of keeping it out, such was the ferocity of the effort.
Four minutes later and Vasas took the lead as Hinora drove a low angled drive passed Molnar-Farkas and into the bottom right corner after the keeper had made a decent save to deny Berecz.
By this point, Vasas were asserting their dominance on the game and Horvath, who had been so influential in the first half, had drifted to the periphery of proceedings; remonstrating with team mates and generally cutting a frustrated figure as Szeged’s rare forays forwards were quickly snuffed out by the Vasas midfield and defence.
A killer third duly arrived on 69 minutes as Otigba made amends for his earlier miss, powering home a header from a Hinora corner to seal the points and place a firm hand on the NBII trophy.
With 6 games to play, Vasas hold a commanding advantage at the top of the table and look certainties for promotion, if not the title itself.
Szeged remain firmly in the hunt for second-place, only three points adrift of DVTK, and will turn their attention to Sunday’s fixture at home to Siofok as they look to maintain the pressure on the side from Miskolc.