After a tremendous fight, we managed to keep all three points at home in the Youth League against CFR Cluj, taking a big step towards the play-offs.

After a tremendous fight, we managed to keep all three points at home in the Youth League against CFR Cluj, taking a big step towards the play-offs.

It was not FK Csíkszereda who dominated the game, and who knows what would have happened if Antonucci hadn’t had a brilliant day in goal for Goran Kopunovic’s team – but he did, saving both his team and many Cluj shots. And football, as they say, is played for goals.

In the first half, Cluj created more chances and looked more dangerous, but we scored: in the 16th minute, Rónai met a cross from the left, his header hitting the post before crossing the line. Two minutes later, Matei almost equalised from close range after a corner, but Antonucci reacted superbly and the defence cleared. Soon after, Oargă fired narrowly wide from 16 metres, and in the 24th minute Hoban’s effort from eight metres was saved again by Antonucci. In the 28th minute, Matei headed from ten metres but missed, and a minute later Miclăuș struck the crossbar. Our first dangerous chance came in the 41st minute through Nyitra, who shot from 14–15 metres but failed to hit the target. Just before the break, Kun-György’s free-kick was parried by Antonucci, who also denied Oargă’s follow-up.

At the start of the second half, Kopunovic’s men defended with discipline and then struck on the counter. In the 57th minute, Brügger drove towards goal, and when everyone expected a pass, he placed a precise shot from the edge of the box into the bottom left corner: 2–0. Two minutes later, Tóth-Pál’s effort from a tight angle was kept out by Filip. In the 70th minute, Iosif’s shot from 16 metres was saved by Filip, and CFR almost scored on the counter. In the 72nd minute, Noveli crossed from the left, but substitute Bekő couldn’t turn it in from point-blank range. In the 75th minute, Antonucci tipped over Kun-György’s header and saved again from the resulting corner.

Our last real chance fell to Noveli in the 80th minute, before the final stages belonged to the visitors. In the 89th minute, the referee awarded Cluj a soft penalty after a foul by Papp. Miclăuș converted, and to make matters worse, Papp received his second yellow card and will miss the next match.

We held on through the final minutes with gritted teeth and secured three vital points, moving up to 18 and taking a big step towards the play-offs. Next, we will play our rescheduled fixture from round 6, on Wednesday at 12:00, at home against Universitatea Craiova at the Burus Csaba Sports Park.

Youth League, Western Group, regular season, round 8
FK Csíkszereda–CFR Cluj 2–1 (1–0)
Referees: Ștef Claudiu, Bíró Barna Tamás, Bíró Zsolt. Fourth official: Toma Gabriel.
Goals: Rónai (16’), Brügger (57’) / Miclăuș (89’ – pen.)
Yellow cards: Kovács (53’), Papp (59’, 89’) / Rușneac (65’)
Red card: Papp (89’)

FK Csíkszereda: Antonucci Michele – Kovács Dávid Vencel, Juhos Gábor, Papp György, Polgar Denis, Noveli Luca, Iosif Cristian, Tóth-Pál Előd, Rónai Róbert, Brügger Dániel, Nyitra Szabolcs Zsolt.
Substitutes: Forgács Csaba – Bekő Kristóf, Dandé Erik, Antal Hunor, Mózes Ádám, Kárándi Roland, Szép Dávid, Kozma Krisztián, Kertész Márk.
Head coach: Goran Kopunovic.

CFR Cluj: Filip Marc Andrei – Radu Alexandru, Miclăuș David M., Hoban Bogdan Ș., Matei Cosmin, Pușcaș Florin C., Panin Antonio C., Covaci Alexandru R., Avram David M., Oargă Vlad A., Kun-György Viktor.
Substitutes: Pavel Yannis Andrei – Rușneac Robert N., Tătar Mario, Coroian Patrick, Braicu Cătălin L. I., Ghiran Denis D., Burzo Paul D., Neoaga Nicolas L.
Head coach: Roman Dan.

Other results: Viitorul Cluj–Universitatea Cluj 2–7, Petrolul–Kids Tâmpa Brașov 0–2, Daco-Getica–FC Argeș 0–1, Știința Poli Timișoara–UTA Arad 1–4, Sepsi OSK–Universitatea Craiova 0–1.

At the top of the table: 1. Universitatea Cluj 24 points/8 matches, 2. FK Csíkszereda 18/7, 3. FC Argeș 15/8, 4. UTA 13/8, 5. Poli 11/8, 6. CFR 10/8.

Rédai Attila
Photo: Pál Zoltán