IT WAS A disappointing night for Robbie Keane, as his Ferencváros side lost the Hungarian cup final 4-3 on penalties against Paks.
Paks, who are third in the Hungarian league, took the lead through Barna Tóth on the brink of half-time in the Magyar Kupa final.
The underdogs led until second-half stoppage time, when a goal from French forward Lenny Joseph brought the game to extra time.
The match remained all square before the league leaders were beaten in the climactic shootout.
Keane’s side could still end the season on a high.
They currently hold a three-point lead over second-place Puskás Akadémia with two games remaining.
A win on Sunday against 10th-place Fehérvár would see Ferencváros secure the league title for a seventh consecutive season.
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Hungary’s most successful club have won 35 titles in total, well ahead of the next best (MTK Budapest with 23).
Keane took over from Pascal Jansen as manager last January with the team in second.
They have enjoyed an upturn in fortune since then, with four league victories from four along with progress to the final, leading to the Tallaght native recently being recognised as the league’s manager of the month for April.
The Dubliner previously guided Maccabi Tel Aviv to the 2023–24 Israeli Premier League title before stepping down as manager.
Keane also briefly was in charge at the Indian side ATK in 2018, and also had spells on the coaching staff with Ireland, Middlesbrough and Sam Allardyce’s four-game spell as Leeds manager.
Elsewhere, Bologna won the Italian Cup tonight after beating AC Milan 1-0 in Rome and ending a 51-year wait for a major trophy.
Dan Ndoye scored the goal in the 53rd minute, which gave Bologna a historic victory, their first honour since last winning the cup in 1974.
In Spain, Real Madrid snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win over Real Mallorca on Wednesday to delay Barcelona’s title celebrations.
Los Blancos cut the gap on the Catalan giants to four points ahead of Barcelona’s visit to neighbours Espanyol on Thursday, where they can wrap up the title with a victory.
Trailing for much of the game after Martin Valjent’s 11th-minute opener, two second-half goals for Madrid ensured their arch-rivals did not claim their 28th La Liga title just yet.
Madrid needed to win to deny Barca and Kylian Mbappe’s equaliser and Jacobo Ramon’s 95th-minute strike allowed them to do just that.
It was also a dramatic night in the Eredivisie title race.
PSV began the day trailing Ajax in the table.
It looked like Peter Bosz’s side would remain in second, despite the routine 4-1 win over Heracles tonight.
Ajax were set to retain top spot against 10-man Groningen, as they led 2-1 in stoppage time.
But 20-year-old Thijmen Blokzijl scored a 99th-minute goal to equalise, prompting ecstatic scenes in the PSV stadium (see video above) and suddenly leaving them with a one-point advantage going into the final round of games.
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Heartbreak for Robbie Keane as Ferencváros lose cup final on penalties
Updated at 23.04
IT WAS A disappointing night for Robbie Keane, as his Ferencváros side lost the Hungarian cup final 4-3 on penalties against Paks.
Paks, who are third in the Hungarian league, took the lead through Barna Tóth on the brink of half-time in the Magyar Kupa final.
The underdogs led until second-half stoppage time, when a goal from French forward Lenny Joseph brought the game to extra time.
The match remained all square before the league leaders were beaten in the climactic shootout.
Keane’s side could still end the season on a high.
They currently hold a three-point lead over second-place Puskás Akadémia with two games remaining.
A win on Sunday against 10th-place Fehérvár would see Ferencváros secure the league title for a seventh consecutive season.
Hungary’s most successful club have won 35 titles in total, well ahead of the next best (MTK Budapest with 23).
Keane took over from Pascal Jansen as manager last January with the team in second.
They have enjoyed an upturn in fortune since then, with four league victories from four along with progress to the final, leading to the Tallaght native recently being recognised as the league’s manager of the month for April.
The Dubliner previously guided Maccabi Tel Aviv to the 2023–24 Israeli Premier League title before stepping down as manager.
Keane also briefly was in charge at the Indian side ATK in 2018, and also had spells on the coaching staff with Ireland, Middlesbrough and Sam Allardyce’s four-game spell as Leeds manager.
Elsewhere, Bologna won the Italian Cup tonight after beating AC Milan 1-0 in Rome and ending a 51-year wait for a major trophy.
Dan Ndoye scored the goal in the 53rd minute, which gave Bologna a historic victory, their first honour since last winning the cup in 1974.
In Spain, Real Madrid snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win over Real Mallorca on Wednesday to delay Barcelona’s title celebrations.
Los Blancos cut the gap on the Catalan giants to four points ahead of Barcelona’s visit to neighbours Espanyol on Thursday, where they can wrap up the title with a victory.
Trailing for much of the game after Martin Valjent’s 11th-minute opener, two second-half goals for Madrid ensured their arch-rivals did not claim their 28th La Liga title just yet.
Madrid needed to win to deny Barca and Kylian Mbappe’s equaliser and Jacobo Ramon’s 95th-minute strike allowed them to do just that.
It was also a dramatic night in the Eredivisie title race.
PSV began the day trailing Ajax in the table.
It looked like Peter Bosz’s side would remain in second, despite the routine 4-1 win over Heracles tonight.
Ajax were set to retain top spot against 10-man Groningen, as they led 2-1 in stoppage time.
But 20-year-old Thijmen Blokzijl scored a 99th-minute goal to equalise, prompting ecstatic scenes in the PSV stadium (see video above) and suddenly leaving them with a one-point advantage going into the final round of games.
Additional reporting by AFP
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