Hungary beat Slovenia 1-0 in Budapest on Saturday, a late intervention from substitute Szabolcs Schön delivering the win that Marco Rossi wanted to underline Hungary's steady build-up to the summer window.
The first half belonged to Hungary's 4-2-3-1. Dominik Szoboszlai pulled strings between the lines while Roland Sallai forced Igor Vekić into two early saves. Slovenia briefly thought they had an opener when Danijel Šturm put the ball in the net, only for VAR to rule it out in the 13th minute. Tempers flickered instead: Adam Gnezda Čerin collected a yellow card for a foul in the 38th minute as the visitors tried to disrupt Hungary's rhythm.
Rossi sought more thrust after the interval, so Attila Osváth and Donát Bárány arrived at half-time, pushing Szoboszlai higher. Damir Redzic replaced Alex Tóth in the 63rd minute to stretch the right flank, moments after Tamás Szűcs had come on for András Schäfer. Slovenia's reply was a triple change in the 62nd minute, Matjaž Kek introducing David Zec, Žan Karničnik and Benjamin Verbič to revive a 4-4-2 that had produced only two shots on target all night. Instead the fouls column grew: Marcel Ratnik saw yellow in the 53rd minute, Márton Dárdai followed in the 69th minute, and Zec went into the book two minutes later.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 79th minute. Schön, only on the pitch for two minutes after replacing Sallai, reacted first inside the box and beat Vekić to crown Hungary's sustained pressure. Zsolt Nagy joined from the bench alongside him to pin Slovenia deeper, and when Péter Baráth came on for Szoboszlai in the 87th minute the hosts were already protecting a lead they had long threatened to secure.
Key contributions ran deeper than the scorer. Szoboszlai completed 57 passes with four key deliveries before his withdrawal, while Milán Vitális and Schäfer set the midfield platform by contesting 23 combined duels and making eight tackles. Willi Orbán marshalled Andraž Šporar throughout, Balázs Tóth handled the only two shots on target he faced, and Miloš Kerkez's overlapping in his 77 minutes stretched the Slovenian left.
Slovenia never unlocked Hungary's back four. Timi Max Elšnik's tidy touches and Šporar's work rate could not compensate for a front line that produced just five attempts all evening. Even the flurry of late substitutions, including Tomi Horvat in the 83rd minute and Tamar Svetlin plus Jošt Urbančič in the 84th minute, failed to dislodge the hosts' control. Kek now has to balance the defensive resilience shown by Ratnik with a sharper attacking plan before June.
Hungary will take confidence from another controlled display at Puskás Aréna, banking a clean sheet and a growing list of contributors off the bench as the countdown to the next international window continues.
Key Numbers
- Possession: Hungary 52 percent, Slovenia 48 percent
- Shots on target: Hungary 6, Slovenia 2
- Corners: Hungary 9, Slovenia 1
- Fouls: Hungary 16, Slovenia 5
- Yellow cards: Hungary 1, Slovenia 3
For more international action from this window, see USA vs Belgium.
