Politehnica Timisoara defeated the newly promoted CS Timisul Șag, 1-0 (0-0), in the 9th round of League 3, the last of the regular season. The only goal of the match was scored by captain Fabian Marincu in the 53rd minute.

The game at the “Electrica” started with a controversial phase in the visitors’ penalty area, where, in the 5th minute, Bogdan Istratie was kicked in the foot by Moțiu in front of goal after Erceanu initially failed to put the ball back towards goal, but the game was allowed to continue. In another nine minutes Poli had another double chance, but Istratie and Rotariu failed to beat Iovicin from the box. Then it was Adrian Zaluschi of the visitors who came to the fore, rattling the crossbar with a shot from outside the box in the 24th minute. But four minutes later it could have been 1-0 to Poli, but the same Iovicin guessed Marincu’s effort, left alone with the goalkeeper, and his shot was kicked away. The end of the half belonged to Șag. And in the 39th minute Nagy saved from in front of goal a ball that could have reached Mediop from Viașu’s cross.

Fabian Marincu finally opened the scoring in the 53rd minute. He collected from Amariei and quickly dispatched a shot from about 20 yards out to the left of Iovicin, who touched the ball but could not stop it from going into the net. After that, the visitors made a few changes to their experienced players, with Mediop (78) unable to get on the end of a shot from a few yards out, sending it over the crossbar. Poli managed to keep the danger away from Enășescu’s goal well enough. Moreover, Marincu (81) and Istratie (85) threatened again.

After this success, Politehnica now have 13 points and occupy 6th place in League 3, Series 9. For the ‘Alb-violets’ there is another home game. In the first round of the second half of the season, Minerul Lupeni, the revelation of the newcomers, will play next Saturday at “Electrica”.

Politehnica Timișoara: Enășescu – Miclăuș (79, T. Hus), Amariei, D. Roșu, Nagy – I. L. Rotariu, Pureca – Marincu (captain; 90, Grancea), D. Popa (90, Avramescu), Erceanu (72, Boariu) – Istratie. On the bench: F. Pop – R. Ciurel, M. Lazăr, D. Roșca. Coach: Cristian Gălan.

CS Timișul Șag: Iovicin – Al. Popa, Moțiu, Podină (cap.), Zaharia – Micșa (34, Candreanu), Briciu (73, Drăghici) – Viașu (54, Munteanu), Zaluschi (73, Ivanovici), Românu (54, Făgărășanu) – Mediop. On the bench: Mereu – Lungu, Yel, Palade. Coach: Ciprian Urican.

“It was not a spectacular game, ugly at times. The involvement of the boys was great and I think that’s what got us the win today. Because the team from Șag came very, very mounted to win this game and it was a fierce duel. And having experienced players they knew how to handle situations differently. I saw the game sheet at the start and I looked at their bench and I said: wow, what a bench to have in League 3 like that, with players who still train four or five times a week, so it’s not just that they come to the game, they have football and human quality. Incredible! Indeed, in the second half, when they came on, you could see the added value that each of those who came on brought. However, with the attitude the boys had, I think we managed to level the game a little bit and in the end we won”, Cristian Gălan, Politehnica Timisoara head coach.