Szalai showed more than one touch of class, however, in the 62nd minute, chesting down for man of the match Laszlo Kleinheisler, then sliding the return pass past the previously untroubled goalkeeper Robert Almer.
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Austria center back Aleksandar Dragovic was sent off after penalizing Hungarian opponent in 66th minute.
The Hungary goalkeeper became the first 40-year-old player to participate in the continental championship, surpassing the record set by Germany great Lothar Matthaus by nearly a year.
Tuesday’s other Group F match is taking place between Portugal and Iceland in Saint-Etienne.
Hungary came close to a second goal 20 minutes from time when Krisztian Nemeth curled one towards the bottom corner, but his effort just missed the post as Austrian’s defence struggled. Austria down to 10 men.
Hungary was able to sustain the pressure, gradually easing themselves into the game after the first ten minutes.
FC’s Alejandro Moreno breaks down Hungary’s first goal in their win over Austria.
Hungary leads Austria 2-0.
Austria’s next game is against group favourites Portugal in Paris on Saturday. However, the Hungarian’s player right foot shot ended up missing its intended target. If his drive had gone in instead of hitting the post 28 seconds into the clash with Hungary it would have been the fastest European Championship goal.
The 27-year-old scored with an exquisite chip over the charging Austrian keeper.
There was a lot of momentum behind this Austria team after their excellent qualifying campaign, especially with the cohesion with which they played and the scattering of stars available to manager manager Marcel Koller.
Austria almost scored the fastest ever goal in the competition after just 28 seconds, when Bayern Munich’s Alaba hit a shot from 25 yards that beat Kiraly, but smacked off the post and to safety following a poor clearance. They needed just 30 seconds to serve warning of their ability as David Alaba seized on a loose ball and lashed a left-footed shot against the woodwork from distance. We scored a fantastic goal through Szalai, a huge compliment to him.
The momentum started to turn just before the interval and Hungary might have taken the lead as Balazs Dzsudzsak raced onto a Kleinheisler pass but his first touch was poor and he shot wide.
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And if Alaba is to have any chance of changing the Italian’s mind, he needs to excel at the European championship, a tournament his talented national team are considered among the outsiders to win. “But the more the match went on the more nervous we go. and we let the Hungarians in”.
