December 16, 2021
These diaries
last reviewed the Moldova Divizia Nationala at the end of August after round 8
of the season when Milsami-Orhei and Petrocub Hincesti topped the table, with
Sheriff Tiraspol ten points behind but with three games in hand.
With Moldova now
entering its winter hibernation, Sheriff Tiraspol predictably sit at the
top of the table, but despite ( or maybe because of ) their record breaking
season in the Champions League, they have not been as dominant as in recent
seasons.
Admittedly, they
currently lead the table by two points, have games in hand over their closest
rivals and no-one seriously thinks they will not retain their title.
Nevertheless, they lost their first game of the season at home to newly
promoted CS Balti ( 0-1 ), and points were also dropped in draws at Zimbru (
1-1 ) and in a feisty, bad-tempered game at Petrocub ( 0-0 ) in early December.
In their 17
games played, Sheriff have won 14, scored 55, conceded just 5 times and neither
Petrocub or Milsami-Orhei have scored against Sheriff in 4 matches so far. Dinamo-Auto
have twice been beaten 7-0 in the Transnistrian derbies, whilst the other
encounter was 7-1 ! Revenge was also extracted over Zimbru with 6-0 and 4-0
victories.
Guinean striker
Momo Yansane, a folk-hero to followers of football in Belarus after his spell
at FK Isloch Minsk, is their top scorer in the league with 9 goals ( including
a hat-trick against Zimbru ), whilst Colombian forward Frank Castenada and
Luxembourg play-maker Sebastian Thill both have 6 goals.
As previously documented,
Sheriff have had a record breaking season in the Champions League. After
eliminating Teuta Durres of Albania and Alashkert of Armenia, Sheriff stood in
the way of a potential explosive and money-making tie between Dinamo Zagreb and
Red Star Belgrade. Perhaps fortunately for UEFA’s safety committee, Sheriff
surprisingly eliminated Red Star 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in Belgrade,
and then followed up by eliminating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 on aggregate thanks to an
emphatic home win, that could easily have been greater, in front of 5,281
spectators to become the first side from the Moldovan league to reach the
Champions League group stages.
The fairytale continued as
Sheriff amazingly won their first two group matches, first shocking Shakhtar
Donetsk 2-0 in Tiraspol with Traore and Yansane on the scoresheet, and even
more incredibly went to Real Madrid and won 2-1, with Uzbek Jasurbek
Yakshieboev ( another ex-star from the Belarus League ) and a stunning last
minute finish from Thill silencing the Bernabeu faithful for possibly the
biggest upset in the Champions League history.
Another upset appeared possible in the San Siro against Inter when Thill’s 25 yard curling free-kick brought Sheriff back to 1-1 early in the second half, but the Italians eventually proved to be too strong and went onto win 3-1.
Sheriff appeared to have run out of steam,
falling to two home defeats, Inter ( 1-3 ) and Real ( 0-3 ) in front of crowds
of 5,900 plus, but an injury time equaliser in Donetsk meant Sheriff finished
the group with 7 points, having already secured third place and continued
European football.
In the last 16 of the
Europa League, Sheriff have been drawn against Sporting Braga, currently 4th
in the Portuguese Primera Division, and a side who were only able to take one
point from two matches against Red Star Belgrade in their Europa League Group
encounters. On this form line, Sheriff have a good chance of further
progression, although Bet365 have Braga the favourites to go through.
Petrocub and
Milsami-Orhei continued to lead the table with Sheriff playing less games due
to their commitments in Europe, but a 4-0 home win over Zimbru in one of their
rescheduled fixtures played after the completion of round 19 took Sheriff above
Petrocub and to the top of the table.
Petrocub have drawn three and lost three of
their 19 games, the same number of losses as suffered in the whole of the
2021/22 season, when they finished 10 points clear of third place and were the
only side to inflict a defeat on Sheriff. To date, they have taken only one
point from Sheriff in three matches ( 0-2 A, 0-2 H & 0-0 A ) whilst honours
have even in the three games versus Milsami-Orhei ( 1-2 A, 1-1 H & 3-1 A ).
All other fixtures have been won, apart from a 1-1 home draw to Sfintul Gheorghe
in November.
Eight Petrocub
players were in the most recent Moldovan national squad, but one of those not
selected, captain and forward Vladimir Ambros ( 12 caps ) is their leading
scorer in the league with 13 goals. Two other players not called up, Mihai
Platica and Vadim Gulceac have 9 and 6 goals respectively, whilst Ukrainian
midfielder Artem Federov scored 5 goals for Dinamo-Auto before signing for
Petrocub in September.
Milsami-Orhei were the early season pace-setters,
cemented by having their fixture against Sheriff postponed, and then overcoming
Petrocub 2-1 at home, and going on to be unbeaten in their first 11 matches,
until losing 0-2 at home to Sheriff. By this time Milsami had lost both international
midfielder Radu Ginsari ( 44 caps and 6 goals in 7 appearances this season ) to
Greek second division side Xanthi and Artiom Puntus ( hat-trick scorer against
Dinamo-Auto ) to Albanian side Kukesi. To fill the void, veteran ex-Sfintul
Gheorghe striker Segiu Istrati was signed from a third division side in Romania
and has contributed 11 goals in 15 appearances.
Milsami’s only other
reverse was at home to Petrocub, but they have been held to draws by Sfintul
Gheorghe ( twice ), Balti and Petrocub. They lie two points adrift of Petrocub
but with a game in hand, albeit against Sheriff.
Sftintul
Gheorghe are in fourth
place, the same as where they finished in the 2020/21 season but trail Milsami
by 15 points so can be considered “the best of the rest”. They
actually started the season by winning the Moldova Super Cup, beating Sheriff
on penalties after a 2-2 draw, and they began the league by holding
Milsami-Orhei to a 1-1 draw away from home. Subsequently, victories have been registered
over Floresti ( twice ), Balti ( twice ), Dinamo-Auto and Zimbru, with further
draws against Balti, Dinamo-Auto, Zimbru ( twice ), Petrocub and again at
Milsami. Their 5 defeats have been against Petrocub ( twice ), Sheriff, Milsami
and Balti. Victor Stina tops their scoring charts with 7 goals
Transnistrian
side Dinamo Auto are in 5th side after a quite bizarre season
to date. They have conceded 53 goals in 19 goals, with 21 of these coming in
three games against Sheriff, whilst they also were on the received end of
hammerings from Petrocub ( 6-1 ), Milsami ( 4-1 ) & Balti ( 4-1 ). However
they possess a 5-0-5 away record with wins at Floresti ( twice ), Sfintul
Gheorghe, Balti and Zimbru, whilst home wins were recorded over Balti and Floresti.
Ukrainian
midfielder Artem Federov scored 5 goals before joining Petrocub and former
international midfielder Maxim Mihailov has scored 5 times in 19 appearances.
Newly promoted Balti
started the season with a sensational 1-0 away victory at Sheriff and had
lost only to Milsami, Petrocub and Sheriff in their first 8 fixtures. However,
their form has steadily declined andthey have lost 9 of their last 12 matches,
including their last five, in which only one goal has been scored. Nigerian
centre-forward Emmanuel Alaribe has scored 7 times and Nichita Motpan has 5
goals.
Fallen giant Zimbru
Chisinau had high hopes of doing much better this season and inspired by
the signing of experienced striker Eugeniu Sidorenco recorded impressive home wins
over Dinamo-Auto ( 3-0 ) and Floresti ( 4-0 ) to top the table after two
matches. However, life was soon much harder, the goals for Sidorenco dried up,
and Zimbru have just one win in their last 10 matches, and that was against
doomed Floresti. Currently occupying the relegation play-off position, they lie
4 points behind Balti. Their away form is one of the main problems, with just
one win ( at Floresti ) and a draw at Dinamo-Auto. By far and away the highlight
of the season was holding Sheriff to a 1-1 draw.
Floresti started the season with a minus 6 point
penalty for match-fixing offences in prior seasons, and they remain the only
side in Europe to still be on negative points, having lost all 18 matches
played so far with 61 goals against. Only 12 goals have been scored, 6 of which
were by Andrei Cobet and there are six players which one goal each. They are
already doomed to relegation.
Balti are by far
and away the best supported side in the country, with an average so far of
1,675, and that is despite Covid restricts for the final match of the year
being limited to only 300. Milsami are next with 573, then Petrocub with 474.
Sheriff’s European success hasn’t translated into higher crowds for domestic
matches, and they have the fourth best average with 461. Dinamo Auto are the
worst supported side, with an average of just 72
Round 19
November 28,
2021
Zimbru Chisinau
1-1 Sfintul Gheorghe ( att : 400 )
CS Balti 1-2 CS
Petrocub Hincesti ( att : 300 )
Milsami-Orhei
5-0 Floresti ( att : 300 )
Sheriff Tiraspol
7-0 Dinamo-Auto ( att : 300 )
December 2,
2021
CS Petrocub 0-0
Sheriff Tirapsol ( att : 300 )
December 11,
2021
Sheriff Tiraspol
4-0 Zimbru Chisinau ( att : 350 )
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