Goals from Hodzic and Scepovic gave Vidi the three league points on Sunday.
The league title holders played host to 2018-19 autumn champions Ferencvaros on Sunday evening. The final league game of the first half of the season was played at the new MOL Arena Sosto with Vidi looking to cut the deficit between the two sides to 5 points with a win.
Manager Marko Nikolic rested several players from the game with Chelsea in midweek. Left out from that game were Attila Fiola, Szabolcs Huszti and Marko Scepovic. There were no real surprises to the visiting team with Daniel Bode not making the squad together with Abraham Frimpong. Davide Lanzafame took kick off and the two sides tried to get the upper hand in the opening minutes. Kovacs went into the book for a challenge on Lovrencsics, and the FTC player was replaced by Csernik.
Vidi had the first chance after 15 minutes following a move that involved Patkai-Nego-Hadzic. The latter sent a powerful shot against the woodwork. Stopira eventually shot wide but it was Vidi that were putting plenty of pressure on the Ferencvaros goal during this period. Hodzic and Milanov combined on 19 minutes but the assistant linesman flagged for offside.
Milanov shot after 21 minutes from 17 meters, but the ball rebounded off a defender and into the arms of keeper Dibusz. Ferencvaros had their first chance six minutes later: A free kick ended with the ball bouncing inside the area, with Csernik first and then Lanzafame trying their luck from close range. The first was blocked while Kovacsik pulled off a good save to deny the latter. Petryak took the ball to the goal line after 29 minutes before sending in a sharp cross, which Kovacsik anticipated and then collected.
The breakthrough came on the 30th minute when Patkai's cross from the right was met by Hodzic, who was alert to find the back of the net (1-0).
The next memorable moment produced a goal for the visiting team: Lanzafame found Petryak, who pushed the ball beyond Hadzic and then flicked the ball over Kovacsik and into the net (1-1). Vidi then played the ball around from the 42nd minute with Ferencvaros unable to get hold of it. Hadzic ended a good move by sending a shot wide of the post. Varga was forced to come off for the visiting side at the end with Bole replacing him. The two sides went in at the break with the score at 1-1.
The second half started with a small chance for FTC after 49 minutes. Lanzafame moved forward and send his effort wide of the target. Vidi also had their first chance of the half after 61 minutes following a corner. Kovacs could have had a clean strike, but his left footed shot did not go in. Petryak then had a chance a few minutes later but his left footed strike was punched out by Kovacsik. Milanov went into the referee's book after 64 minutes and was substituted and replaced by Scepovic.
Vidi took the lead for the second time in the game after 67 minutes. Istvan Kovacs found Scepovic with a lovely ball and he beat Otigba, before placing the ball beyond Dibusz to make it 2-1.
Ferencvaros had a chance to get back level after 72 minutes with Bole's ball to Lanzafame, ending with the Italian forward unable to convert. Nikolov took a corner after 80 minutes, which fell in front of Hodzic, but the defender managed to clear the danger. Ferencvaros had another good chance shortly later with Siger playing in Petryak, but Nikolov slid in and Kovacsik was able to deny the Ukrainian forward, with Juhasz reaching out to block and Vinicius hacking the ball clear.
Huszti came on after 87 minutes as Hodzic came off. The visitors pressed forward in the closing minutes but they could not create a serious chance. Berecz was the third and final change for Kovacs as the seconds ticked by.
The referee blew for full time and the gap has been cut to five points at the top as the winter break kicks in. Vidi will start the spring season in second place in the OTP league.
Author: David Rechnitzer