Although we couldn’t secure any points at home against Rapid Bucharest in the 3rd round of the Superliga regular season, our second-half performance offers reason for optimism.

Although we couldn’t secure any points at home against Rapid Bucharest in the 3rd round of the Superliga regular season, our second-half performance offers reason for optimism.

We played a late Friday night match conducted entirely in the spirit of fair play – with no incidents, anti-Hungarian chants, or inappropriate messages. The away fans showed and received the respect fitting of a civilized sporting event.

On the pitch, we fell behind early, in the 7th minute, when Simon could only parry Onea’s long-range shot into the danger area, and Hromada was quickest to react: 0–1. In the 32nd minute, Christensen headed a cross into the middle where Kramer nodded towards goal, but Simon got a touch to deflect it onto the post. Our first real chance came in the 38th minute when Dolný lifted Veres's pass over the bar from close range. A minute before the break, Rapid doubled their lead: after a slick move involving four players and several one-twos, Petrila found himself in a clear scoring position ten meters from goal and didn’t miss: 0–2.

After the break, a completely different FK side emerged, creating multiple promising chances, but unfortunately, none resulted in a goal. Szilágyi was denied one-on-one, then Ferenczi played a full-pitch ball to Hegedűs, but our new signing’s shot was saved by Stolz. We also had efforts from Anderson, Babati, and Dolný – in the 63rd minute, the Brazilian and Slovak combined nicely, but Dolný’s shot rolled just wide. Szalay also worked well with substitutes Szabó and Jebari, but the latter’s shot was blocked. Rapid’s only major second-half chance came five minutes before the end, when Dobre nearly scored a third, but Simon saved.

The score remained unchanged in the second half, but the match stats showed an FK advantage: more shots on target (17–15) and more corners (5–3), which are encouraging signs – as emphasized by head coach Róbert Ilyés and our new striker Márton Eppel in the post-match press conference. It’s worth noting that our young 17-year-old midfielder, Lóránd Bencze, made his official and top-flight debut during this match.

In the next round, we’ll travel to Mioveni to face our old rivals FC Argeș, with the match kicking off on Saturday, August 2nd at 18:30.

Superliga, regular season, round 3
FK Csíkszereda–Rapid Bucharest 0–2 (0–2)
Miercurea Ciuc, municipal stadium, 2,350 spectators
Officials: Andrei Florin (Târgu Mureș), Alexandru Vodă (Alba Iulia), Marius Cristian Marchidanu (Brăila). Fourth official: Iuliana Elena Demetrescu (Râmnicu Vâlcea)
Goalscorers: Hromada (7’), Petrila (44’)
Yellow cards: Babati (29’) / Christensen (80’), Ciubotariu (83’)
FK Csíkszereda: Simon – Hegedűs, Kelemen, Csürös – Babati, Szilágyi (Szabó 53’), Veres, Ferenczi (Bencze 90’) – Szalay, Dolný (Jebari 66’), Anderson (Eppel 66’). Head coach: Róbert Ilyés
Rapid: Stolz – Onea (Manea 66’), Ciubotariu, Kramer, Keita – Hromada (Gojkovic 71’), Christensen, Dobre (Micovschi 90’), Petrila (Hazrollaj 70’) – Jambor (Baroan 66’). Head coach: Costel Gâlca