Politehnica Timisoara obtained on Friday against Avântul Periam, as last season, the first away win in the championship, a success with the same scoreline as in the previous edition of League 3: 3-0 for the white-violets, after 0-0 at half-time. They scored: Victor Prună, Bogdan Istratie and David Ciurel.

The game didn’t start great for Poli, considering that in the 8th minute, when Mosoarcă held up Oancia’s shot, our goalkeeper was then run over by an opponent and had to be replaced, as he was suspected of a broken finger. Not even a yellow card was awarded at this stage.

In the following minutes, the Light Blues took control of the midfield, but without finding the ideal solution. In the 14th minute Popa headed in from a good cross, but the ball was in Antonescu’s direction. Not two minutes later Marincu shot wide from a good position in the box and was imitated four minutes later by Boariu.

The hosts replied more on the counter-attack and through set-pieces. In the 29th minute, following a move down the left flank, Prața received the ball in the box, but shot wide of the goal. And in the first minute of first-half stoppage time Ștefanciuc shot from an angle but straight wide.

As usual, Poli pressed and insisted more in the second half. And the results were quickly visible. In the 53rd minute, Popa re-centered after the first attempt was blocked and from the box, in the central area, Victor Prună sent a volley that first hit Antonescu’s right-hand bar before entering the net. Six minutes later Marincu sent over the wall and also wide from a free-kick, before Bogdan Istratie made it 2-0 to Poli with a long-corner shot after Boariu’s assist. It could have been 3-0 already after another nine minutes, but David Popa, after dribbling and dribbling past the goalkeeper, fired from a tight angle straight at Antonescu, the goalkeeper managing to pull one back. Poli continued their domination and missed another goal chances through the same Popa (71st and 73rd minutes). On the latter, the ball bounced just before his shot which went just over the crossbar. The hosts replied again with a long-range shot by Trandu (79) before the score finally became 3-0 for our team in the 80th minute, when Istratie was the servant for the newly entered David Ciurel, who broke into the box and scored with an easy low shot from an angle. And in the last minute, Vlaicu tried to score as well, heading in from a corner, with the Light Blues already clear winners.

Following this victory, similar in terms of the scoreline to the one at the start of last season in Periam and also the first “away”, Poli have nine points after six rounds in Series 9 of League 3 and are in the top half of the standings, currently in 5th. Next Saturday (3pm), the white-violets play at home, on “Electrica”, after three weeks, the opponent will be Viitorul Arad.

Avântul Periam: Antonescu – Baeram, Clipotă (66, Giurici), R. Mureșan, Ștefanfanciuc (66, R. Jurj) – Oancia (captain), Gașpar (77, E. Șmalbergher) – S. Cristea, R. Trandu (81, M. Dobricean), Mager (77, Mânecan) – Prața. On the bench: – Ct. Filip, Olteanu, D. Șmalbergher. Coach: Răzvan Leucă.

Politehnica Timișoara: Mosoarcă (11, Enășescu) – Miclăuș (46, Amariei), D. Roșu, Vlaicu, Nagy – I. L. Rotariu, Prună – Marincu (captain; 71, D. Ciurel), D. Popa, Boariu (71, Erceanu) – Istratie (84, Grancea). On the bench: – T. Hus, D. Rosca, Pureca, Avramescu. Coach: Cristian Gălan.

“It was a good game by our guys, who put on the field pretty much everything we discussed in the week leading up to the game. They’re starting to have more confidence, starting to show better play. The goals came as a result of some very good actions, we saw determination, we saw attitude. Indeed, in the first half we had about three chances and, unfortunately, our opponents had one or two good chances, but in the second half we were much better on the pitch and we managed to score three times and we created a couple of more chances. At half-time we tried to put right some mistakes that we saw in the first half, which you can’t plan all the time at home. Maybe the opponent plays differently, you adapt to what they play. In the end you realize how the game is going in the first half and what you can fix in the second half, improvements to have the result on your side in the end,” said Cristian Gălan, Politehnicii’s head coach.

The bad news from this game remains the injury to goalkeeper Octavian Mosoarcă. He will undergo an X-ray on his return to the city and is suspected to have fractured a finger, which the doctor in Periam has put in place. “It means he will be out for a longer period probably. Tavi caught the ball, the opponent had a delayed attack, these are contacts that happen in football. What I didn’t understand was why the referee didn’t penalize the opponent, who hit Tavi… We are now without an important player for us,” concluded Cristi Gălan.

“I congratulate the boys, because they fought and played exactly what we wanted and how we wanted the team to look. Thank you to the supporters who made the trip on a Friday, however, in rainy weather and they were with us, throughout the game they cheered the boys and at the end they celebrated with the players together!”

Cristian Gălan, head coach Politehnica Timișoara