The Blue and Whites ended in a draw in their first home game of the season and also their first home crowd game in almost a year and a half. It was 1-1 between Politehnica Timișoara and FC Buzău, in the third round of League 2. Daniel Benzar opened the scoring early for our team. The guests equalized through Chică-Roșă and finished the game in numerical inferiority after Zamfir was sent off at the end for two cautions.

Our supporters only had to wait about three minutes in the heat for the first live goal on “Dan Paltinisanu” in too long. Axente remained in possession somewhere 40 yards from the opponent’s goal, opened up the right flank for Doru Andrei, who sent an excellent cross into the box for Daniel Benzar, who scored with a low shot for 1-0! A confirmation that he loves playing at the old stadium. Buzăul were dangerous after the opener, but Scutaru deflected a dangerous shot into the corner in the 16th minute. Five minutes later Ignea sent straight at goal from a corner, but Stoian pushed it wide. The half ended with two dangerous phases at Păduraru’s goal. First Mera deflected over the crossbar, then our goalkeeper held Ghinga’s “header” from close range.

Buzoi dominated the start of the second half and equalized in the 69th minute after an error on the right flank. Scutaru first blocked the ball sent by Chică-Roșă, but the ball also bounced to the striker, who scored with a low shot to the long corner. After these good minutes for the guests, Bîrnoi could have scored in the 82nd minute, but his rebound from inside the box was denied by Stoian. The 89th minute saw Zamfir from Buzoi sent off for a second yellow card (hard foul on Pamfile), just minutes after the first warning seen. The second minute of extra time could have been decisive too, but the same Bîrnoi was blocked in the box after a counter-attack and unfortunately we couldn’t reward the permanent encouragement of the supporters.

It ended in a draw and the white-violets have collected four points after the first three rounds, two of which were played on foreign soil. Politehnica’s next game will be on Saturday, August 21, at 11.00 a.m. at Unirii Constanta.

Politehnica: Păduraru – Sofran, Scutaru (81, Bocșan), Mera (captain), Oanea (71, Pamfile) – Ignea, Lazăr – D. Andrei, Benzar, Ursu (71, Bîrnoi) – Axente (63, Hațegan). On the bench: Harrison – S. Costea, Minteuan, Moțiu, Zaluschi. Coach: Dorin Toma.

FC Buzău: Stoian – Zamfir, Wiktorski, Ghinga (captain), C. Toma (46, Oltean) – Gaitan, A. Lopez (63, Cîrstocea) – Ciobanu (84, Vîrtej), Ekollo, Neacșu (46, Andronic) – Chică-Roșă (78, Munteanu). On the bench: Avram – C. Petre, Mondragon, D. David. Coach: Cristian Pustai.