E.ON Men's Water Polo League: There is really no rival for Ferencváros at home
The FTC-Telekom defeated the second-placed rival Solnok with a decisive nine-goal victory at their home in a match that hardly brought back the excitement of the past years. The teams trailing behind Ferencváros also won, so the fate of the spots in the semifinals will be decided in the March series of matches.
At home, Ferencváros has been in serious trouble only twice in recent years in the championship: they lost in Solnok in March 2022 - last time till today - and although they have won 75 times since then, in the brilliantly successful season last year, they barely managed to defeat the hosts at Tiszaliget with an unlikely goal just 0.2 seconds before the buzzer.
Moreover, unlike the two recalled matches, the Solnok team started the current showdown from the second position... To the surprise of those who know the domestic sport for a little longer, by the end of the third quarter at the latest, it became clear that there had never been such a disturbing difference between the first and second teams in the Hungarian championship.
For practically a single moment, Solnok could not keep up with the best team in Europe. As a comparison, one might argue that Kristián Bedó and his team caused some hot moments for Recco, then they defeated Mladost, which included half of the Croatian national team - now the match seemed somewhat balanced in the first quarter. With Szilárd Jansik's advantage goal at 0:02, the score was 1-3, and the match seemed relatively close; however, from the second quarter on, it became increasingly clear how unequally matched the two teams were.
The defense of Ferencváros filtered incredibly effectively, with a block ratio of 1-6 at halftime, making it much easier for Soma Vogel behind the green wall than for his national team colleague Bányai Márk on the other side. It is indicative that at the time of their substitution, Bányai was at 18/4, while Vogel was at 13/11. Few of his saves seemed miraculous; he just did his job... Thus, by halftime, the score was already 1-6, and before the final quarter, it was 2-12. In the last period, Ferencváros eased the pressure somewhat, allowing the hosts to make the final result somewhat more bearable, but it is still a fact: the Champions League-winning team is so much better than everyone else that they can hardly be stopped even on a bad day at home.
By defeating BVSC, the Miskolc team, who delivered a sensational performance during the week, put some pressure on Vasas for a while in Komjádi: after eight minutes, the score was tied at 3-3, and even at halftime, the Óbuda team led by only 8-6. In the third quarter, Bogdan Durdic leveled the match with two action goals for the home team, and they eventually won the last quarter by 5-1, securing a confident victory.
However, it took a while for BVSC to recover from the shock and take down Debrecen in Kaposvár. The Zugló team could not shake off the hosts in the first half, as their defense continued to look shaky, having conceded seven goals in the first half; however, they also scored the same number. And for another four minutes in the third quarter, the situation remained the same, with intermittent lead changes, but Hári Balázs and his team kept breathing down their necks. The issue was that they started to breathe hard for different reasons: the players from Kaposvár began to tire, while BVSC found their rhythm. Dávid Tátrai scored two goals in 43 seconds, followed by Erik Csacsovszky doing the same, putting the guest team ahead by 10-14 in moments. Although Kristóf Pellei scored another goal, the Somogy team completely ran out of steam for the last quarter. This was quite evident, as the railway team swept the final eight minutes with a 6-0 margin, winning 20-11, even though one of their key players, Péter Kovács, received a red card at 10-11, and Zsombor Ekler closed the game with a 6/0 score.
OSC effortlessly defeated Eger—despite the five-goal difference, it was largely thanks to outstanding goalkeeper Martin Moravcsik, who made 14 saves; even so, Újbuda scored 16, and considering the number of shots on goal (30-18), the difference could have been significant - however, the home team missed out on many man-up opportunities (7/1).
Honvéd had no trouble defeating Szeged, and their 8-3 lead at halftime secured a confident victory.
In the battle for points among the lower-ranked teams, Debrecen and Újpest managed to move up a notch by winning as well. The team from Debrecen defeated Szentes at home: the 5-3 opening quarter set the tone, and after 8-7 in the third, a 4-0 surge for the home team decided the match.
UVSE won a key match in Pécs, establishing a four-goal lead in the first half (4-8) and managing it well throughout.
E.ON Men's Water Polo League, Round 20
Szolnoki Dózsa-Praktiker–FTC-Telekom 7-16
Vasas-Plaket–PannErgy-Miskolc 16-9
Kaposvári VK–BVSC-Manna ABC 11-20
Genesys OSC-Újbuda–ONE Eger 16-11
Endo Plus Service-Honvéd–SEQOMICS-Szeged 14-8
