Ferencvarosi beat Trabzonspor 2-0 to reach Conference League league phase

Ferencvarosi strengthened their position in the Europa League qualifying tie by taking a 2-0 lead over Trabzonspor in the second leg of their preliminary-round meeting in Hungary.

The Hungarian side had already secured a 1-0 victory in the first leg in Turkey, leaving Trabzonspor with a difficult task to overturn the deficit on their opponents’ home ground.

Mohamed Salah started for Trabzonspor, who were also forced to play with 10 men from the 13th minute after Ruslan Malinovskyi was shown a red card for a strong challenge on a Ferencvarosi player.

Ferencvarosi made their numerical advantage count six minutes later. Callum O’Dowda headed the opening goal past Trabzonspor goalkeeper Onana to put the hosts firmly in control of the tie.

The home side continued to threaten and came close to adding a second goal in the 17th minute. Deli advanced down the right wing before sending a cross towards Lenny Joseph in front of goal, but the forward could not reach the ball, which continued just wide of the post.

Trabzonspor avoided falling further behind before the interval when Onana produced an important save in the 43rd minute. He denied Kristoffer Zachariassen, with the Trabzonspor defence then clearing the ball behind for a corner.

Ferencvarosi led 1-0 at half-time, with Trabzonspor needing to score twice after the interval to keep their European campaign alive.

Trabzonspor manager made three changes at the start of the second half, bringing on Benjamin Bouchouari, Mustafa Eskihellac and Aral Simsir in place of Enis Destan, Wagner Pina and Paul Onuachu.

However, the visitors’ hopes suffered another blow in the 54th minute when Ferencvarosi scored again. The goal gave the Hungarian side a 2-0 advantage in the second leg and a commanding lead on aggregate.

The match was being covered live by FilGoal.com as Ferencvarosi hosted Trabzonspor in the return leg of the Europa League preliminary round.

The winner of the tie advances to the league phase of the UEFA Conference League. Ferencvarosi’s first-leg success in Turkey had given them the advantage before the return fixture, while Malinovskyi’s early dismissal made Trabzonspor’s task even more challenging in Hungary.