Unirea Slobozia arrive at the municipal stadium for Matchday 17 of the Superliga regular season. This is our chance to take revenge for the setback suffered against them in the second round.
Unirea Slobozia arrive at the municipal stadium for Matchday 17 of the Superliga regular season. This is our chance to take revenge for the setback suffered against them in the second round.
It has been a long time since we last played at the municipal stadium in Miercurea Ciuc: most recently we hosted Sepsi OSK here in the Cup, ending 0–0 on October 28 — more than three weeks ago. To find our last home league match, we must go even further back, to October 24, the 1–1 draw against Petrolul. Since then, we played two away matches (best forgotten) and went through an almost two-week international break. So there was plenty of time to prepare for the match against Unirea Slobozia.
Speaking of national teams, our young midfielder Dusinszki Szabolcs made his debut for Hungary U21 during this period. From our first-team squad, Simon Máté was called up to Romania U20, and Bödő Efraim to the Romania U19 squad.
As for Friday’s match, we host the team that handed us our first bitter pill in the Superliga — we do not fondly remember the 1–6 defeat in Round 2 at Clinceni, even though we played most of the game with one man down. We do, however, recall with more pleasure that we opened the scoring through Dolný in the 21st minute. Unfortunately, Palmeș’s red card in the 34th minute and the ensuing penalty against us triggered the avalanche. Aganović, who scored two of Slobozia’s six goals that day, is no longer with the Ialomița side — he has since moved back to Sepsi OSK, and we saw him play against us in the Cup match on October 28. Meanwhile, we ourselves have lost Dolný for a long period after a serious knee injury — we wish him a speedy and successful recovery!
Slobozia are not in good form: they last earned points on September 28, in Round 11 against Farul, and have since suffered five straight defeats. We too, however, have lost our last two league matches, and not in close contests. “It’s not easy to get up after two defeats, especially following so many positive results, but I think we prepared well this week. We must prove ourselves in front of our supporters, and I hope the frustration from these losses will be released on the pitch. With the right attitude, we can keep the three points at home,” head coach Róbert Ilyés highlighted at the pre-match press conference.
Returning from the Romania U19 team, Bödő Efraim said they have drawn their conclusions after the last two defeats. “There was a lot to learn, and we analysed everything thoroughly. We know Slobozia are a tough, uncomfortable side, but if we start the game more aggressively and with the right mentality, we can achieve a much better result,” he said.
“I expect an exciting match — both because of the league positions and because of the defeat in the first meeting. I wasn’t here then, but for everyone who played that match, it should be an extra motivation, and also for those who joined later — we want to take revenge,” added our forward Márton Eppel.
The match kicks off on Friday at 17:30, and tickets can be purchased at the ticket office, which opens at 15:30. Not only in matches against top teams, but also in such derby-type games, the team greatly needs support — matches where winning might not be a miracle, but the home advantage can be decisive. Those unable to attend in person can follow the match on DigiSport 1 and Prima Sport 1, or via the Hungarian-language radio commentary on our club’s Facebook page.
Rédai Attila
Photo: Zoltán Pál