Papa battle bravely to steal a point

It was a frustrating evening for Videoton as they failed to pick up the three points

VIDEOTON FC - LOMBARD PAPA 1-1 (0-1)
Szekesfehervar, Sostoi Stadium
Goalscorer: Nikolics (53)
Videoton: Bozovic, Szolnoki (Nikolics H/T), Vaskó, Szekeres, Hector, Haraszti (Gyurcsó 65.), U. Nikolic (Peric 81.), Mitrovic, Kovács, Walter, Torghelle
Lombard: Szűcs, Dlusztus, Balogh, Rodenbücher, Szabó, Horváth. (Tóth . 83.), Quintero, Maróti, Németh, Seye (Benko 72.), Arsic (Dóczi 63.)

It was a frustrating day at the office for Videoton on Sunday evening. The season opener produced a 1-1 draw against a Lombard Papa side, which battled throughout, despite being limited. The storm clouds gathered around the Sostoi stadium once again, but luckily the rain stayed away. There were several changes to the starting line up, as Videoton have one eye on Thursday's Europa League match with Gent. Szekeres and Haraszti made their league debut for Vidi, as Paulo Sousa juggled his side around. Bozovics kept goal with young Szolnoki beginning at right back. The central defence was made up of Adrian Szekeres, who recently joined Vidi from MTK, and Tamas Vasko. Hector occupied the left back spot. Haraszti started on the right while Walter took his place on the opposite wing. Mitrovics and young Uros Nikolics were the central midfield pairing, with young Kovacs just ahead with Torghelle the lone striker.


The first chance arrived after 5 minutes, when Mitrovics took a free kick from a promising place, requiring a good Szucs save to deny Paulo Sousa's team. Torghelle found himself with a good chance a few minutes later. He received a good ball from Kovacs, but Szucs came out of his goal at a good tempo to block the chance. Szucs was helpless after 12 minutes when Haraszti curled a free kick, which found it's way to Vasko, who sent the ball crashing against the crossbar. Vidi had more of the possession, while the visitors defended with discipline. Papa did manage to get the ball out of their own half through counter attacks. It was from one of these breakaway's that Papa went ahead. The 25th minute saw Arsic run down the left wing before crossing low for the waiting Seye to place in to the corner of the goal. There were no further chances in the first half, despite the referee remaining busy by handing out 5 yellow cards.

The winner almost arrived after 67 minutes when Kovacs' shot was saved by the feet of the impressive visiting keeper. Walter then did really well to set up Nikolics on 78 minutes, but he took too much time and in the end found the keeper pulling off another good save. Vidi had much more of the ball towards the end of the game, but they could not find a way past a stubborn defence and keeper. The referee blew for full time and Vidi picked up a point from the 1-1 draw, but it should have been all three!

Author: David Rechnitzer

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