Politehnica Timisoara drew 2-2 (1-1) away against Minerul Lupeni in the first round of League 3, Series 9. The hosts led on two occasions, but each time the white-violets came back on the scoreboard. What’s more, Cristian Gălan’s pupils managed to do so even in numerical inferiority after Aurel Vlaicu was sent off in the 66th minute. The hosts also benefited from a penalty kick, from which they scored, early in the second half.

The game didn’t start well for the young Albiceleste, who conceded an early goal in the 7th minute when Abraham got in front of our players in the box and headed home. Gradually, however, Poli held on to the ball better and created the chances that heralded the equalizer. In the 44th minute Radu Ciurel headed the ball back in front of goal, Raț deflected the ball just seven-eight meters, from where Bogdan Istratie put it back into the net for 1-1. It could have been 2-1 to our team at half-time, but David Ciurel’s shot from in front of the box in the second minute of extra time met the crossbar and went in.

The second half also started ominously for Politehnica. In the 49th minute Baidoo fails to get possession of the ball, which bounces off him, then falls past Radu Ciurel, who was already on the ground after the duel. A penalty kick was awarded, from which the same Abraham made it 2-1 with a shot into the left-hand corner of Mosoarcă’s left-hand corner. Seven minutes later David Ciurel came close to equalizing with a deflected ball into the far corner. From the resulting corner the ball went into Lupeni’s goal, but the goal was disallowed because Aurel Vlaicu fouled the goalkeeper. Then, in the 66th minute, Abraham runs from the edge of offside after a ball launched over our defense and falls in a duel with Vlaicu. Our defender was shown a straight red card!

Despite the man down Politehnica managed to equalize once more, in the 71st minute when the same Istratie superbly struck from outside the box over Raț. Our youngsters also attacked at 2-2 in a numerical inferiority, but Minerul could have prevailed in the 85th minute, when the ball also rattled Mosoarcă’s crossbar.

Minerul Lupeni: Raț (captain) – N. Toma, D. Vlad, D. Creciunesc, Ciucurescu – Mazilu (83, Mândreci), Marinca, An. Petea, Eshun – Baidoo, Abraham. On the bench: Tonca – Androne, Hârșan, Prem, Iepure, Cercel, Tanți, Dulap. Coach: Dan Voicu.

Politehnica Timișoara: Mosoarcă – Miclăuș, A. Vlaicu, R. Ciurel, Nagy – D. Ciurel (70, Avramescu), I. L. Rotariu, D. Popa (86, Pureca) – Marincu (captain; 70, Amariei), Istratie, Boariu (64, Prună). On the bench: Enășescu – Grancea, D. Roșu, T. Hus, D. Roșca. Coach: Cristian Gălan.

“It was a difficult game, both on the pitch and in the stands, the home fans put a lot of pressure on our players and the refereeing brigade. The opponent carried their game in their style, with a lot of physicality and less football. No problem, the boys tried to resonate in this match with what was going on around them. I think they managed to raise the level quite well. In the end we got a draw. We’re not happy, but we’re not upset either, because we were still down to ten men from the 65th minute and we did well.

I have nothing to comment on, it was the referees’ decisions, they have the decision on the pitch and we can’t comment from the sidelines. All we did was comply and try to recover what we could after the penalty they conceded and after the sending off we tried to bring players from the sidelines, to balance what was happening on the pitch both physically and in terms of value and to allow the lads to work to get as much as they could. We are happy that we managed to score in ten men,” said Cristian Gălan, head coach of Politehnicii.

After scoring in last season’s promotion play-off semi-final last season, today, striker Bogdan Istratie was providential with a first-ever double for Poli. “Bogdan is a very incisive player, he chases every ball, he’s a good player. I’m glad he chose to continue with us. In fact, all the players today were admirable, from the first to the last, because they fought very hard. The opponent, as I was saying before the game, brought some good players. It is very difficult to play here,” added Cristi Gălan.

“The way the game looked, the result is fair if we look at the halves as a whole, which were totally different. The first with our slower start, the goal we conceded in the 7th minute, then we controlled the game and had some good situations. Coming after half time the same errors from the start of the game. In the 4th minute penalty, we concede a goal, after which we start to come back again, to get into the game, to try to impose our game, although it was very difficult, because the opponent wanted to destroy any action, to throw any ball forward, long or in any other form”,

Cristian Gălan, head coach Politehnica Timișoara

Our team’s next game will be in a week’s time, on Saturday, September 7, at 17:00, the first home game in this edition of League 3, against Progresul Pecica.

Photo: Paul Sebo