Hungarian champions Ferencváros continued their deep European run in the UEFA Europa League against the Portuguese side SC Braga at home at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Thursday, 12 March. The stakes at hand: a spot in the last eight standing in the secondary European competition.
Braga made the awkward choice of wearing all purple for their away game: for those outside of Hungary, Ferencváros’s fiercest local rivals, Újpest FC, also wear an all-purple home outfit. Meanwhile, Fradi’s outfit for the day is also worth a mention: they had a special kit commemorating the 15 March Hungarian national holiday.
In Braga’s purple jersey was midfielder João Moutinho, a 2016 European Championship-winning Portuguese international with nearly 150 caps for his national team under his belt.
Despite the impressive résumés of some of their opposition players, Fradi was mostly on the front foot at the beginning of the game. The home side pressed high, often winning balls in the attacking half; while Braga goalkeeper Lukáš Horníček made no secret of the fact that he is satisfied with the level score, and started the classic time-wasting goalie antics inside the first 30 minutes.
Still, it was Braga that hit the target first, and they did so twice in quick succession. Dávid Gróf, chosen over club legend Dénes Dibusz who has just returned from a finger injury, had to pull off a couple of saves in the Fradi goal to keep the goalless tie.
However, that tie did not last for too long after—fortunately for Fradi. Just like in the last EL game against Ludogorets, Israeli midfielder Gavriel Kanichowsky opened the scoring for Ferencváros. In the 32nd minute, centre-back Raemaekers won a ball near the halfway line, and quickly played it to Lenny Joseph. Joseph then assisted Kanichowsky at the edge of the box, who slotted the ball into the near bottom corner.
In the second half, Joseph added a goal to his assist for the evening. In the 68th minute, Makreckis broke free down the right flank, crossed it low inside the box, and Fradi’s French striker fired it into the middle of the goal from about 10 yards out. 2–0 to the Hungarians!
After being down by two, Braga were really not happy with the result, and started pushing for one back. However, they only got as far as a couple of late corners, but no real threat.
Regardless of what the second leg may bring, this result will surely be fondly remembered by Fradi supporters for years to come. The rematch will be played at an unusual kickoff time of 4:30 p.m. Budapest time (3:30 p.m. local time) next Wednesday in Braga, Portugal.
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