Author: Maria Polivanovskaya
Saturday 4 May 2019, Budapest
Ferencvarosi defeated their Budapest-city rivals Ujpest 2-1 at home, a day after they celebrated their 120th birthday!
In front of a passionate 20,000 crowd (including 1,500 Ujpest fans), Ferencvarosi took the lead in the 22nd minute following a goal from Hungarian International striker Roland Varga. Újpest equalised shortly before half time in the 39th minute with a header from Dániel Nagy following a corner.
Italian striker Davide Lanzafame regained the lead for Ferencvarosi in the 50th minute and despite 11 minutes of extra time (due to delays in the match for fan celebrations), Ujpest were unable to prevent Ferencvarosi winning the 278th derby (132 to 77 wins in favour of Ferencvarosi).
This sweet derby victory came just a week after they celebrated winning their 30th Championship win with four matches left to play in the Hungarian league.
That title win sees them join an elite group of 13 teams who have won their country’s championship at least 30 times, including Portugal’s Benfica (36), Italy’s Juventus (35), Spain’s Real Madrid (33) and the Old Firm.
The victory also ensured that Ferencvarosi will represent Hungary in the Champions League qualification rounds in the summer of 2019.