PUSKÁS AKADÉMIA - FK CSÍKSZEREDA 5-1 (2-1)

Keen interest surrounded beforehand the match between Puskás Akadémia and Csíkszereda , as the former defeated Bayern Munich in the previous round 2-0, while the Transylvanian squad suffered a 4-0 defeat against Osijek, so both teams wanted to prove their worth. Puskás knew well that the first victory would only be worth something in the event of another triumph, while the Szeklers wanted to prove that they did not deserve the big goal difference defeat suffered in their previous match.

In light of this, it was not surprising that the clash started with a Csíkszereda corner and an ensuing blocked shot , from which Valentin Szabó, noticeable on the left wing for his agile ups and downs, launched a promising counterattack only to bend it too high.

In the 4th minute, after another move by Puskás on the left, Barsan, playing nervously throughout, made an unlucky save, rattling his own crossbar from close range, from where, fortunately, the ball bounced back into the field.

In the 11th minute, the Puskás pressure was converted into a goal: once more an attack on the left, Dominik Kocsis freed himself with clever dribbles within the box, his shot rebounded from the crossbar, it was laid off by Bakti to Kicsun who fired into the bottom right corner in a masterly way. 1-0.

Puskás kept being more dangerous on the left wing, the Szabó-Gruber duo was very much alive, but the whole team played confidently, controlled the match, switched sides with clever crosses, and was not scared of the 1v1s either. The home team was characterized by  patient buildup with timed changes of pace.

Then the equalizer came out of nowhere, at the expense of Puskás, getting a little too comfortable during the first half. Boni's clever forward pass was pounced upon by Milán Orbán who drove the ball into the goal past goalkeeper Pécsi. 1-1.

Not only did the equalizer wake Puskás up, but it also made them step up the pace, putting even more pressure on Dániel Lukács's goal. In the 25th minute, Kicsun dribbled from the right towards the centre and barely missed the goal from 20 metres. Two minutes later, Norbi Kiss scored a goal, only to be disallowed - absolutely rightfully - by referee Balázs Berke, but there was no mercy in the stoppage time of the first half: Balázs Bakti was alone against goalkeeper Dániel Lukács after another great pass from the left and he lobbed it extremely calmly above the goalie and into the net. 2-1, it was practically the end of the first thirty minutes.

The second half continued virtually where the first one stopped. Bakti's agile dribble in front of the goal in the 36th minute was not yet crowned with success, Zsombor Gruber's free kick two minutes later caused forced the opponent's busiest player, goalkeeper Dániel Lukács to become even more active. After another four minutes, Szabó countered, pulled to the centre from the left, passed it out to the right, from where Bakti hardly missed the far right corner.

For just a minute, it was once more time to change the result on the scoreboard: Zsombor Gruber, starting out with a really nice dribble, fed the ball to Dominik Kocsis, who rammed it into the top right corner from to 20 metres after one touch. 3-1, it was definitely the goal of the match.

Aware of the two-goal lead, Puskás slowed it down and even made substitutions. For the last 10 minutes, the visiting team got forward again. A free kick just outside the home side's penalty area after 50 minutes was very much reminiscent of Ronaldinho's tricky set piece against Seaman, but Ármin Pécsi knocked this one out. Valentin Szabó dribbled everybody on the counterattack, but could not get past Lukács, the goalkeeper saved it and conceded a corner. However, the fourth goal came right from the corner, Norbert Kiss nodded it in, with a Csíkszereda defender trying to save it, all in vain.

Botond Sebestyén of the Csíkszereda team had a promising opportunity in the 57th minute, but was blocked by Norbert Kiss. Not only did he block, but in the dying minutes of the match set the final result himself, putting Marcell Major's (Bakti's substitute) ball into the net before the goalkeeper could get there. 5-1 and a brace from Kiss, a convincing victory all in all.

Puskás–Suzuki Cup, Group A, Round 2

Puskás Akadémia – FK Csíkszereda 5–1 (2–1)

Referee: Berke (Király, Pullmann)

Goal: Kicsun (10.), Bakti, Kocsi, Kiss

Line-up:

Pécsi - Koch, Farkas (Vajda, 50.), Babós, Bányai (Korodi, 50.), - Kiss, Kocsis - Kicsun (Dusinszki, 48.), Bakti (Major, 45.), Szabó - Gruber (Sárközi, 50.)

Lukács - Precup (Colceriu, 40.), Simon, Barsan, Boni (Bóné, 40.), Orbán (Tamás, 50.), Sebestyén, Biró, Elsawy, Csedő, Kecskés (Balogh, 50.)