After starting their Europa League campaign with a hard-fought tie against Viktoria Plzeň at home, Ferencváros travelled to Genk, Belgium to face KRC Genk on Thursday, 2 October.
Genk are famous for their youth academy that has produced such world-class talent as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid or midfielder Kevin De Bruyne of Napoli (formerly Manchester City). However, the senior team is not doing so hot this season, standing currently at only ninth place in the Belgian league after nine games.
Still, the home side started the game on the front foot. Their wingplay was especially threatening to the Fradi goal, but the visitors managed to get out of the first 30 minutes unscathed despite being almost constantly under pressure.
When Ferencváros got their chance to attack from the wing, however, they did not let it go to waste. Barnabás Varga headed Jonathan Levi’s cross into the net in the 44th minute. This was Varga’s 12th goal of the season in his 15th game, with headers being his speciality.
He had a golden opportunity to score his 13th right away: however, his penalty was saved by Genk’s Hendrik Van Crombrugge at the beginning of the second half. Thus, the Hungarian champions had a tough 45 minutes left trying to hold onto their one-goal lead.
But they succeeded in the end. Ferencváros won 1–0 against KRC Genk on the road, and are now sitting on four points after two games in the UEFA Europa League league phase. Next up for Fradi is another away trip, to neighbouring Austria this time, where they will play Red Bull Salzburg on 23 October—a national holiday in Hungary.
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