FK Csíkszereda had an off day in their trip to the “oil city”, with nothing working as it should, resulting in a two-goal defeat.
FK Csíkszereda had an off day in their trip to the “oil city”, with nothing working as it should, resulting in a two-goal defeat.
Petrolul Ploiești managed to tip the balance of the head-to-head record: after two draws in the regular season, they claimed all three points in the third encounter. The hosts, led by their new head coach Mehmet Topal, started with great intensity, while our bench was again without the suspended Róbert Ilyés. Due to injuries, Soufiane Jebari and János Hegedűs were unavailable, but a positive note was the return of Jozef Dolny to the squad for the first time since October following a serious knee injury.
Around forty supporters from Csíkszereda accompanied the team to Ploiești and quickly realized it would be a tough match. The hosts set a high tempo and created several dangerous chances, although an early goal was ruled out by VAR.
Midway through the first half our play began to improve: Anderson’s shot went just wide, then Eppel had a big chance, but Bălbărău made an excellent save. However, towards the end of the half Petrolul regained control, and in the 43rd minute Dulca opened the scoring with a precise long-range strike.
After the break we tried to get back into the game, with another effort from Eppel saved by the home goalkeeper, but we failed to apply sustained pressure. In the 70th minute Pop decided the match with an individual effort, dribbling past two defenders and making it 2–0. Both sides had chances late on, but the score remained unchanged.
At the post-match press conference, coach Barna Bajkó said:
“I didn’t see anything on the pitch from what we prepared over the last two weeks. We made too many technical mistakes, and with so many errors you cannot have expectations. We had a few chances to score but missed them. Congratulations to Petrolul for their deserved win today.”
Despite the defeat, we remain in a safe position in the play-out standings, but Slobozia and Petrolul have closed the gap to just one point. Next up, in exactly one week, is a match against bottom-placed Metaloglobus, scheduled for Monday at 15:30 in the 4th round of the play-out.
SuperLiga, play-out, Round 3
Petrolul Ploiești – FK Csíkszereda 2–0 (1–0)
Ilie Oană Stadium, approx. 3000 spectators
Referees: Ionuț Coza, Andrei Gabriel Constantinescu, Florian Alexandru Vișan
VAR: Iulian Dima, AVAR: Valentin Porumbel
Fourth official: Mihai Laurențiu Ene
Scorers: Dulca (43’), Pop (70’)
Yellow cards: Dumitrescu (83’), Gheorghe (90+1’), Mateiu (90+3’), respectively Anderson (51’), Tajti (66’)
Petrolul: Bălbărău Andrei Raul – Ricardinho, Papp Paul, Roche Yohan Cédric Benjamin, Dumitrescu Andres Mihai – Jyry Tommi Matti, Dulca Marco Alexandru (Hanca Sergiu Cătălin 68’), Rafinha (Mateiu Alexandru 59’), Pop Rareș Mihai – Chică-Roșă Adi Marian (Aimbetov Abat 87’), Grozav Gheorghe Teodor (Gheorghe Valentin 87’).
Head coach: Mehmet Topal
FK Csíkszereda: Pap Eduard Adrian – Pászka Lóránd, Csűrös Attila (Cabral Gustavo 77’), Kabashi Arian, Palmeș Raul Ioan – Trif Răzvan Alin (Tajti Mátyás 46’), Végh Bence, Anderson Ceará (Szalay Szabolcs 85’), Kleinheisler László, Bödő Zoltán Efraim (Brügger Dániel 77’) – Márton Eppel (Wilhelm Loeper 85’).
Coach: Barna Bajkó
Rédai Attila