July 12, 13, 14 & 15, 2024
Romania became the first of the topflight European “winter leagues” to commence their 2024/25 season with two matches played on Friday 12th July, one week ahead of the leagues in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Slovenia, Serbia and Switzerland.
Less than two weeks earlier, Romania had exited Euro 2024 with a 0-3 defeat at the hands of The Netherlands, and five of the six domestic based players in the national squad featured this weekend. Adrian Sut, Darius Olaru and Stefan Tarnovanu all started for FCSB, whilst Vasile Mogos and Daniel Birligea came on at half-time for CFR Cluj. Only Nicusor Bancu was missing and wasn’t part of the Universitatea Craiova matchday squad.
Friday July 12, 2024
Farul Constanta 0-1 Unirea Slobozia ( att : 2,000 )
The opening game of the season saw a major surprise as newly promoted Unirea Slobozia, in their first ever season in the Romanian top division, went to Farul Constanta, champions in 2022/23, fourth last season, and coached by the legendary Gheorghe Hagi, and won 1-0. The only goal of the game came in the 19th minute when ex-Botosani Guinean midfielder Sekou Camara’s ball inside the Farul centre-back Diogo Queiros found Florin Purece in space inside the Farul area, and the ex-Farul striker’s calm left-footed side-footed shot snuck inside the near post, although keeper Buzbuchi probably should have done much better. Being an ex-Farul player, Purece’s celebrations were muted.
Farul created very little in response, just long-range efforts from Vina and Ciobanu tipped over the bar by veteran Moldovan keeper Denis Rusu, until a grandstand finish in the closing minutes. 17-year-old substitute Iustin Doicaru did get the ball into the net with three minutes remaining but was correctly ruled to be offside. Doicaru then went on a weaving run a minute later only to see his fierce drive hit the far post and bounce back into play. Ciobanu’s shot from the rebound was blocked, and when Farul reworked possession, Doicaru’s bouncing attempt from just inside the area was unconvincing saved by Rusu, who at least got his body behind the ball, and the loose ball was gratefully hoofed clear by a Unirea defender. In added-on time Grameni’s 20 yard left-footer was again tipped over the bar by Rusu, and Unirea hung on to claim a notable victory.
FC Hermannstadt 0-0 CS Universitatea Craiova ( att : 6,168 )
The second Friday night game saw the match-up of FC Hermannstadt, who finished 9th last season against the side that ended in third place, Universitatea Craiova.
Hermannstadt’s Ronaldo Deacanu, who had previously featured in these diaries with Gaz Metan Medias and Farul, made a good run early on only to see his shot well blocked by Honduran defender Denil Maldonado. In the 33rd minute Ianis Stoica swivelled inside the Craiova six-yard box but his effort went just wide.
UC improved in the second half. Elvir Koljic sent a long-range effort at the home keeper, then French midfielder Lyes Houri, who appeared in these diaries in 2020 for Hungarian side Fehevar, sent a rasping 25 yarder which brought a flying save from keeper Cabuz.
Alexandru Mitrita ( 18 caps ) appeared to have a one man crusade to score the opening goal but was denied on four occasions, before Cretu’s 25 yard effort brought a decent diving save from Cabuz and Koljic’s follow-up from the rebound was blocked by centre-back Gaman. Mitrita then skipped past a couple of tackles but his left footed drive from 12 yards went across the face of the goal and inches wide of the far post.
After a proverbial game of two halves, a draw was maybe a fair score, but the longer the game went on, the more likely it seemed Universitatea Craiova would score, so they were probably the more disappointed by the final scoreline.
Saturday July 13, 2024
Sepsi OSK 1-0 FC Politechnica Iasi ( att : 3,998 )
Sepsi OSK against Politechnica Iasi was a meeting of the sides that finished 5th and 12th last season. Sepsi took the lead in the 23rd minute when Albanian midfielder Sherif Kallaku’s 30 yard free-kick was spilt by Iasi’s ex-Real Madrid keeper Jesus Fernandez, and Cosmin Matei ( 2 caps ) reacted to side foot into the empty net from 6 yards. Five minutes later another free kick from Kallaku sailed inches over the bar.
Iasi’s best chance of the first half came 10 minutes from half-time when Brazilian forward Tailson was put clear, and although he slipped the ball past the advancing keeper, unfortunately for him, it slid inches the wrong side of the post.
Sepsi were being kept at arm’s length, but ex-Cambuur Dutch midfielder Michael Briej had a 25 yard effort pushed away by Fernandes in the 59th minute. Then at the other end a minute later, Stefanovci’s curling left-footed 20 yard was pushed away by the diving Sepsi keeper Niczuly.
Sepsi ought to have doubled their lead in the 65th minute when Kallaku’s incisive pass put Marius Coman clear, but his side-footer from 12 yards was saved by Fernandez diving to his right. Another threaded pass put Serbian substitute Mihajlo Neskovic clear on the left, but the ex Vozdovac winger, who featured in these diaries last season, tried to place the ball inside the far corner, but it hit the outside of the post and went off for a goal-kick.
Iasi almost scored a fluke equaliser when Tailson’s shot was going well wide but struck a team-mate on the chest. With the keeper wrong footed everyone could only watch as the ball bounced slowly wide.
Kallaku could have sealed the three points in added on time, but he could only shoot into the side netting after being put clear.
UTA Arad 1-1 Rapid Bucuresti ( att : 10,043 )
UTA Arad versus Rapid Bucharest was a match between the sides that finished 7th and 6th last season, with Rapid being managed by ex-Northern Ireland International Neil Lennon ( 40 caps ), who played for Leicester City and Celtic, and who also previously managed Celtic. Rapid had the better of the first half with Kosovan winger Florent Hasani ( 8 caps ) first seeing his shot saved, and when Rapid regained possession, his left footed curler from the edge of the area went just over the bar.
Rapid took the lead in the 23rd minute when, after a move down the left, the ball reached ex-Ballkani Kosovan striker Albion Rrahmani ( 5 caps ) who although tackled, managed to play the ball across the area for German full-back Christopher Braun to side foot past the keeper from 10 yards.
Rrahmani was looking lively and had a fierce 20-yard shot pushed high into the air by UTA keeper Popa but Frenchman Jayson Papeau was unable to capitalise.
Arad improved in the second half and Kenyan winger Eric Omondi ( 37 caps ) let fly from 20 yards in the 56th minute but his effort was pushed away by the Rapid keeper. However, the equalizer arrived three minutes later when Omondi ran at the back-pedalling Rapid defence, and although Braun managed to get a foot to the ball to take it off the Kenyan’s toe, the ball rolled to the unmarked Alexandru Cimpanu who finished left-footed from close range.
Huge controversy occurred two minutes from time when UTA scored for what they thought was the winner. Ex-LA Galaxy Portuguese midfielder Joao Pedro ran to the left-hand by-line and managed to play the ball back to Omondi, who smartly finished from 8 yards. The game had restarted when the referee stopped play and was told by VAR to go to the touchline monitor. After a lengthy review, it was decided that Joao Pedro had kicked the foot of Slovak defender Filip Blazek when playing the ball, so the goal was belatedly disallowed. UTA can justifiably feel aggrieved at being denied all three points.
FCSB 1-1 Universitea Cluj ( att : 10,223 )
The highest crowd of the weekend up pitched up to watch last year’s champions FCSB host Universitea Cluj, who ended in 10th place in the final league placings. The visitors nearly shot themselves in the foot in the 10th minute when captain Alexandru Chipciu ( 46 caps ) played a suicidal back pass towards his keeper from close to the corner flag, but Daniel Popa was just unable to latch onto it. Shortly before half-time Popa headed a left wing cross just wide.
French midfielder Malcom Edjouma sent a 25-yard drive just wide shortly after the interval, but FCSB scored the first goal of the game in the 50th minute. Alexandru Musi received a pass from Sut and sent a delicious left-footed effort into keeper’s bottom right-hand corner from the penalty circle.
The lead didn’t last long though. Play continued after Edjouma’s clumsy challenge on Tunisian Adel Bettaieb, but when VAR sent the referee to the monitor it was clear that Edjouma has stood on the forward’s foot, and inevitably a penalty was awarded. Dan Nistor ( 6 caps ) sent the FCSB keeper the wrong way from the spot.
FCSB rarely looked like regaining the lead, although David Miculescu sent a glancing header just wide seven minutes from the end. In the end though, FCSB were indebted to keeper Tarnovanu to even take a point from the game, making a smart low save after Oancea’s ball from the right found Ovidiu Bic just inside the penalty area.
Sunday July 14, 2024
CFR Cluj 3-2 Dinamo Bucharest ( att : 5,600 )
Dinamo only survived last season in the SuperLiga with a 2-0 aggregate win over Csikszereda in relegation play-offs, whereas CFR Cluj were runners-up.
A shocked looked on the cards when Dinamo raced into a 2-0 lead after 34 minutes but Cluj stayed in touch at half-time thanks to a penalty and then levelled early in the second period, but they left it until the 93rd minutes to snatch the winner.
Dinamo opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Catalin Cirjan produced a delightful chip over the advancing keeper, and they doubled their lead when Madagascan striker Hakim Abdallah ( 13 caps ) pounced on a left wing cross from ex-Port Vale winger Dennis Politic to prod home from close range.
The lifeline for Cluj came when Politic rashly slid into a challenge for a cross from the left wing and unfortunately made contact with the head of Andrei Artean. An obvious penalty was awared, and Ciprean Deac ( 26 caps ) sent keeper Slovenian keeper Adnan Golobovic the wrong way.
The introduction of Daniel Birligea ( 2 caps ) brought almost instant rewards when the International striker weaved his way past three defenders to level the scores.
Both sides had chances to win the game in the final 30 minutes. Birligea somehow put a low cross from Greek midfielder Panagiotis Tachtsidis ( 25 caps ), then Astrit Selmani ( 5 caps for Kosovo ) and ex-Birmingham City French midfielder Eddy Gnahore both missed chances for Dinamo.
Birligea then somehow missed an open goal, sliding in from 6 yards after a low cross from Liberian winger Mohammed Kamara ( 4 caps )
With a minute remaining, Dinamo’s Andrei Bani sliced his shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area after a strong run by Adrian Caragea. However, Cluj won the game in dramatic fashion when Tachtsidis’ left footed shot from the edge of the area nestled into the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner after good work by Birligea.
Monday July 15, 2024
FC Botosani 2-3 Otelul Galati ( att : 2,830 )
Like Dinamo Bucharest, Botosani only survived in the SuperLiga with a two-legged triumph in the relegation/promotion play-off, overcoming Mioveni 1-0 in both matches. They had looked doomed at the end of the regular season but improved during the Play-Out Round to finish third from bottom. Otelul Galati finished in 8th position.
Hopes that Botosani’s end of season form would continue were dashed as Otelul picked up the only away win in the opening round of fixtures.
Alexandru Pop gave the visitors the lead in the 6th minute, finishing a rapid counter-attack from 12 yards, but goals from Nigerian Adam Friday ( turning to fire home from 12 yards ) and Sebastian Mailat ( a side-footed finish after a nice set-up by Chica-Rosa ) put Botosani ahead after 56 minutes. Mailat then missed a good chance to extend Botosani’s lead, volleying wide from 12 yards
However, they couldn’t hold on, and two headers from Croatian Diego Zivulic from corners by Italian Juri Cisotti, in three minutes midway through the second half saw The Steelworkers to victory. Botosani might want to look at their defensive set-ups at corners, as for both goals the tall Zivulic was marked by the much shorter Charles Petro, with the Malawi defender being at least five inches shorter than the Croat !
Petrolul Ploiesti 0-0 Gloria Buzau ( att : 6,500 )
Newly promoted Gloria Buzau, back in Liga 1 after a 15-year absence took a point from their opening fixture, at Petrolul Ploiesti, who finished eleventh last season. It was an uneventful game, although Petrolul could have won, but missed a penalty in the 59th minute. Defender Calin trod on the foot of Kosovan forward Albin Berisha, who quickly went down to make sure the referee had seen it. Georghe Grozov ( 31 caps ) stepped up but steered his spot kick wide !
Gloria’s best chance came early on when left-back Robert Salceanu ran the length of the pitch then teed up Portuguese striker Ricardo Matos, whose first time shot was batted away by Czech keeper Lukas Zima.
For Ploiesti, Bratu had a shot saved in the first half and nine minutes before the end Tolea weaved his way into the area, but his shot from a tight angle was saved
European Competitions
Champions FCSB had the easiest possible of all ties in the First Qualifying Round of the Champions League, being drawn against San Marino champions, Virtus. Olaru helped himself to a hat-trick in a 7-1 away victory where Daniel Popa and David Miculescu both grabbed a brace. Miculescu was also on the scoresheet in the 4-0 home win in the second leg, with French midfielder Edjouma scoring twice and Alexandru Baluta once. FCSB face a much sterner task in the Second Round, where they will play Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Cup winners Corvinul Hunedoara finished second in Liga 2 but bizarrely were denied a licence for the SuperLiga, apparently for not being privately owned, but were granted one by UEFA to play in the Europa League. They raised eyebrows in the First Qualifying Round with a 4-0 win in Hungary over Paks with Lupu scoring a hat-trick. Paks improved to win the second leg in Romania 2-0, but it wasn’t enough, and Rijeka now await for Corvinul Hunedoara in the Second Qualifying round.
Runners-up CFR Cluj are exempted to the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa Conference and will play Belarus side Neman Grodno,
Universitatea Craiova won a play-off against Universitatea Cluj for the final place in the Europa Conference and will face Maribor of Slovenia in the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa Conference.
Round Two
19/7 FC Politehnica Iasi vs FC Botosani
19/7 Unirea Slobozia vs FCSB
20/7 CS Universitatea Craiova vs UTA Arad
20/7 Rapid Bucharest vs CFR Cluj
21/7 Universitatea Cluj vs FC Hermannstadt
21/7 Dinamo Bucharest vs Petrolul Ploiesti
22/7 Gloria Buzau vs Sepsi OSK
22/7 Otelul Galati vs Farul Constanta
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