Ferencváros defeated the Swedish Malmö team 4-1 at home in the fifth round of the Europa League regular season. With their success on Thursday, the Hungarian champions confirmed their place in the standings.
A fantastic atmosphere awaited the teams, which were received live by both fan bases.
The Hungarian champions gained a two-goal advantage in just over ten minutes with Barnabás Varga's double, although the guests quickly made up for it with a penalty from Norwegian Erik Bothheim. After a change of half, the Brazilian Kady Borges restored the difference with a beautiful goal, and the final result was set by the header of the French Ibrahim Cissé.
The green and whites started with great momentum, they literally jumped at the opponent, whose defense, decimated by injuries, was very vulnerable. Less than five minutes had passed when Varga's slide hit the left post, while Ramírez's powerful shot was punched back into the box by the Swedish goalkeeper. Despite the first missed opportunities, the Hungarian champion quickly took the lead because Varga confidently sold the penalty awarded for his fall. After more than ten minutes, Ferencváros doubled their advantage with a well-executed counterattack, but they could not rest, because in a seemingly harmless situation, the Swedes also got a penalty, which they converted. After the hectic first twenty minutes, the match became even, and the game was mostly played in Ferencváros' half, but the home team came closer to another goal, except that right before the break, Saldanha's shot narrowly missed the right corner.
Ferencváros was still able to get the ball in the midfield after the change of half, and from those, they led their dangerous actions one after another. Just from such a one-man attack, Kady masterfully curled into the goal, and soon after Saldanha also scored, but Varga, who assisted him, caught the ball from behind, leaving the score at 3-1. The Swedes' attacks were somewhat static, but Dibus still had two major defenses. Around the 70th minute, the Scandinavian team started to take control, which is why Cissé's header came at a particularly good time, with which the clash was decided once and for all. For the remaining quarter of an hour, Malmö lost faith, so Ferencváros could have increased its advantage in the first half, but no more goals were scored.
The green and whites improved by three positions and climbed to 11th place, and the nine points are probably worth advancing, because according to the simulation of the European Union (UEFA), an average of 7.6 points may be needed to continue in February.
Ferencváros will be the guest of Greek PAOK in Thessaloniki in the sixth round in two weeks.
Europa League, regular season, round 5:
Ferencvárosi TC–Malmö FF 4–1 (2–1)
Groupama Arena, 18,891 spectators, led by: Alijar Aghayev (Azeri)
scorers: Varga B. (8th, 11th, the first from the penalty spot), Kady (53rd), Cissé (74th), and Bothheim (18th, from the penalty spot)
yellow card: Varga B. (68th), and Stryger Larsen (15th), Kiese Thelin (90th)
Ferencvárosi TC: Dibusz – Makreckis, Cissé (Szalai G., 86), Gartenmann, Ramírez – Abu Fani (Rommens, 86), Maiga – Saldanha (Zachariassen, 62), Kady (Ben Romdhane, 74), Traoré – Varga B. (Pesic, 86.)
Malmö FF: Friedrich - Stryger Larsen (Skogmar, 83), Rösler, Zätterström, Busanello - Pena (Kiese Thelin, 66), Johnsen - Rosengren, Christiansen (Loukili, 83), Bolin (Gudjohnsen, 87) - Botheim (Berg, 83.)
MTI
Cover photo: Kristoffer Zachariassen, Stefan Gatemann, Philippe Rommens and Alekszandar Pesic, Ferencváros players (bj) celebrate their victory at the end of the match between Ferencváros TC and Malmö FF in the 5th round of the regular season of the men's European football league at the Groupama Arena on November 28, 2024. FTC won 4-1.
MTI/Koszticsák Solid