Europa League: Ferencváros Triumphs over Czech Viktoria Plzeň

Ferencváros (FTC) defeated Czech Republic’s Viktoria Plzeň 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League last eight tie at the Groupama Arena, Budapest, on Thursday evening.

Ádám Varga, who has been replacing Dénes Dibusz at the goal since his injury in Frankfurt, suffered a muscle injury in the warm-up, so it was decided practically half an hour before kick-off that the recently-acquired Dávid Gróf would defend the home goal. Perhaps even more defensively-minded than expected, the other side started the match with the game practically in their own half for the first 20-25 minutes.

In this period, Ferencváros had the upper hand, with the Greens and Whites having considerably more possession and creating several promising chances until Abu Fani’s strike broke the ice midway through the half.

After the goal, the Czechs seemed to come back to life and became more dangerous, with Gróf having to make several saves. Despite the increasing pressure from Plzeň, FTC maintained their one-goal lead until the break and deservedly led overall.

After the turnaround, the home side, who showed a little less attacking prowess, were unable to create any real serious situations in front of the Czechs’ goal, mainly because of unlucky bounces. At the back, however, Ferencváros had to be careful on several occasions. In the 66th minute, Gróf had to save a shot from under the crossbar, and FTC, who had been freshened up with substitutions a few minutes earlier, tried to take control.

In the second half, the game became very scrappy, with more and more fouls, and one of them resulted in a yellow card for Barnabás Varga.

This is a big blow for Ferencváros, as the Hungarian national team striker will not play in the return leg.

Ferencváros head coach Robbie Keane said the players must show the same mentality over the weekend and in a week’s time. The 44-year-old Irishman said at the post-match press conference that they started the game as planned and played well in the first half.

“Our fans helped a lot, our intensity and our fight was also for them. It was fantastic to play in that atmosphere,” stressed Keane, who felt they should have controlled the game much better after scoring the goal.

Maybe we pushed too hard for the second goal when we should have kept the ball and we should have played a more relaxed game in the second half,”

said the coach.

Keane believes they have a good chance of progressing, but they face a “completely different game” in Plzeň in a week’s time. “This Czech team is very physical, but the most important thing is to bring the same mentality and level to the game against Paks at the weekend and then in Plzeň,” he said.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt