MOL Vidi make it into the last four of the cup

Goals from Nikolov and Milanov secured Vidi a 2-0 win and 4-1 on aggregate. 

MOL Vidi FC went into their Hungarian Cup quarterfinal, second leg with a 2-1 first leg lead against Ferencvaros. Goals from Juhasz and Vinicius earned the advantage from the first game. 

Manager Marko Nikolic brought Boban Nikolov into his team but there were also starts for Huszti and Hadzic. There was a good crowd inside the MOL Arena Sosto with a place in the final four at stake. The game started quietly and it wasn't until the 8th minute that the first incident happened. Hadzic played in Scepovic, who beat his marker and then headed the ball beyond keeper Dibusz, who had raced out of his goal. Dibusz brought down the Vidi forward and referee Kassai sent him off and reduced FTC down to ten men. Leandro came off to be replaced by sub keeper Adam Holczer. Huszti took the resulting free kick but it hit the wall. 

A Nego cross on 21 minutes was flicked over the bar by Patkai, but the ball dangerously went wide of the goal. Two minutes later and another ball in from Nego but it was just to high for Nikolov. Scepovic then ran for a ball shortly after and shot from a tight angle ahead of Frimpong, but the defender managed to make contact and it went out for a corner. The resulting corner was headed back into the middle by Vinicius but keeper Holczer was alert to collect the ball. 

With 28 minutes played, Scepovic suffered an injury and Hodzic came on to replace him. Hadzic fed Stopira with the ball on the left after 33 minutes, with the left back playing the ball forward to the unmarked Hodzic to shoot over the bar. Gorriaran then collided with Akos Elek a couple of minutes later and Vidi were forced into their second change of the evening with Kovacs coming on. 

The end of the first half included 5 minutes of injury time that referee Kassai added on. There was still time for Stopira to send in a cross for Hodzic to shoot, but it was blocked by defender Dvali. The teams went in at the break with the score at 0-0 and Vidi leading 2-1 on aggegate. 

The first chance of the second half went to the visitors with Lanzafame lifting the ball over to Varga, who cut inside and shot at goal, but Kovacsik was well placed to deal with it. Gorriaran was replaced by Signevich following that chance. The breakthrough came on 58 minutes: Stopira released Nikolov on the right side of the defence. He took the ball beyond Frimpong and Petryak could not reach the Macedonian, who from 15 meters, did well to beat keeper Holczer (1-0).

Lanzafame shot over after 62 minutes from a free kick from 25 meters. Another free kick on 66 minutes was played into the middle and Signevich flicked the ball over. Hodzic went down the wing after 71 minutes before doing well to cut inside before aiming for the top left, but the ball ended up going over the bar. Isael came on for the green and whites in place of Varga. Marko Nikolic made his third and final change with 73 minutes on the clock as Georgi Milanov replaced Szabolcs Huszti. 

Lanzafame and Kharatin collided after 77 minutes and required treatment from the visiting physio. Nikolov sent a powerful shot from 23 meters over the bar. The evening was capped off with a nice second goal after 82 minutes: Milanov won the ball in the middle and brought the ball forward, before finding Kovacs, who returned the ball back to the Bulgarian, who from 14 meters found the bottom left corner (2-0).

Vidi controlled the final minutes of the game and they comfortably made it through to the semi-final with a 4-1 aggregate win. It was the fourth match between the two sides in the 2018-19 season and Vidi have won three and drawn the other. 

Author: David Rechnitzer

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