Defying expectations, thanks to an outstanding display by Anderson, crucial saves from goalkeeper Pap and a huge collective effort, FK Csíkszereda kept all three points at home against UTA Arad.

Defying expectations, thanks to an outstanding display by Anderson, crucial saves from goalkeeper Pap and a huge collective effort, FK Csíkszereda kept all three points at home against UTA Arad.

In Round 26 of the regular season, on Saturday afternoon, in conditions far from ideal but perfectly suitable for football, the two teams took the field in a great atmosphere at the Municipal Stadium in Miercurea Ciuc. Alongside the 50–60 travelling supporters of UTA, the stands were dominated by the Lokálpatrióták, who could finally cheer their team at home again after trips to Galați, Bucharest and Clinceni.

The match produced an intense and entertaining battle, with chances at both ends. For FK Csíkszereda, Anderson’s creativity and finishing, Pap’s outstanding goalkeeping and the team’s selfless defensive work proved decisive, leaving the visitors without answers.

In the 13th minute, Végh released Anderson from beyond the halfway line. The attacker beat his marker and fired a beautiful left-footed shot from the edge of the box, just inside the right post, to open the scoring. Six minutes later, Abdallah missed a big chance from seven metres. In the 29th minute, Anderson again caused problems down the right, beating two defenders, but Bota could not convert his cross, while at the other end Roman opted for an individual solution and lifted the ball over the bar from close range.

The game remained open, with large spaces in UTA’s half, constantly exploited by Anderson. In the 35th minute, he struck again with a powerful left-footed shot from 19 metres, scoring his fifth goal of the season and making it 2–0. Before the break, Végh was forced off injured and replaced by Palmeș, while Eppel narrowly missed with a header in stoppage time.

Both teams made several substitutions at half-time. UTA made four changes, while FK Csíkszereda made two. Anderson, carrying a slight injury, was replaced by Loeper, who made his debut in red and black. In the second half, the visitors pushed forward: Sota’s long-range effort went just wide, Roman was denied by an excellent save from Pap, and another attempt missed the target. In the closing stages, Tzioni and Abdallah also came close, but Pap produced save after save.

In the final 20 minutes, birthday boy Noveli Luca came on, celebrating his 18th birthday on matchday itself. At the other end, Barbu’s effort failed to trouble the scoreline. FK Csíkszereda defended with discipline until the final whistle and secured another vital victory.

The win takes the team’s points tally in 2026 to nine and sees FK Csíkszereda move ahead of Slobozia, drawing level on points with Petrolul in 12th place.

After the match, head coach Ilyés Róbert said:
“It was a very tough match. I didn’t expect Arad to play with such quality and confidence on the ball. They surprised us offensively, but I’m extremely proud of my team. We focused on defending with humility and once again kept a clean sheet. Pap made several crucial saves, and Anderson is exactly the type of player we signed to make the difference – and he did.”

FK Csíkszereda will next play on Wednesday at 8:00 PM in the Romanian Cup against third-division side Liești in Galați, before returning to league action next Saturday at 7:00 PM away to Universitatea Cluj.

SuperLiga, Regular Season, Round 26
FK Csíkszereda – AFC UTA Arad 2–0 (2–0)
Miercurea Ciuc, Municipal Stadium, approx. 1,500 spectators

Goals: Anderson (13’, 35’)

Yellow cards: Jebari (60’), Csürös (88’), Ilyés – head coach (90+1’) and Gojkovic (58’), Abdallah (73’), Sota (90+4’)

Match officials:
Referee: Moroita Andrei
Assistant referees: Bobe Ionuț Marius, Marchidanu Marius
VAR: Flueran Viorel Nicușor
AVAR: Bojan Cosmin

FK Csíkszereda: Pap Eduard Adrian – Pászka Lóránd, Kabashi Arian, Csürös Attilla, Trif Răzvan Alin – Bence Végh (Raul Palmeș 43’), Szilárd Veres, Anderson Ceará (Wilhelm Loeper 46’), Gustavo dos Santos Cabral (Soufiane Jebari 46’), Darius Bota (Luca Noveli 74’) – Márton Eppel (Zoárd Nagy 65’) Head coach: Róbert Ilyés

AFC UTA Arad: Tordai Örs György Árpád – Flavius Iacob, Florent Grégoire Poulolo (Marinos Tzioni 69’), Dmytro Pospielov, Din Alomerovic – Benjamin André Van Durmen (Mino Sota 46’), Richard Odada (Denis Lucian Hrezdac 46’), Valentin Ionuț Costache (Luka Gojkovic 46’), Alin Roman, Denis Alberto Ionuț Țăroi (David Andrei Barbu 46’) – Hakim Djamel Abdallah. Head coach: Dumitru Adrian Mihalcea

Attila Rédai
Photo: Zoltán Pál