U23 League

ALEXANDRIA ARENA
Spectators: 160 (Terracing: 120, Seating: 37, VIP seats: 3) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Edgar Vlas made the kick off which started today's match. A collision led to FC ciufulici getting a freekick after 4 minutes play. Sabin Craia hit a great ball. The audience thought a goal was coming when Cristinel Focșa got free with Marius Rusu in the 5th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Gheorghe Craioveanu could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 7th minute of the match, but Marius Rusu made a huge save. After 10 minutes of play, Alexandria Team08's Gheorghe Craioveanu made it 1-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Marius Rusu was left in no man's land by his defense there! Laurențiu Popescu showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from George Giurcă, who was totally free with the ball in the 15th minute. Laurențiu Popescu made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Edgar Vlas in the 17th minute of play. 21 minutes into the match, Alexandria Team08's goal looked a bit too open when Edgar Vlas came free, but Laurențiu Popescu reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Sabin Craia hit a great freekick 24 minutes into the match. Gheorghe Craioveanu took the ball and in the 25 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Marius Rusu. Marius Rusu dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 2-0. In the 28thth minute of the game Gheorghe Craioveanu who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but FC ciufulici's Marius Rusu was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. After some careless play in the Alexandria Team08 defense, George Giurcă kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Laurențiu Popescu. The Alexandria Team08 fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Laurențiu Popescu should have stopped the shot. Laurențiu Popescu took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from George Giurcă, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Alexandria Team08's Laurențiu Popescu played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Edgar Vlas in the 33rd minute of play. A collision led to Alexandria Team08 getting a freekick after 33 minutes play. Cristinel Focșa hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gheorghe Craioveanu in the 35th minute of play forced FC ciufulici's goalkeeper Marius Rusu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Marius Rusu made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cristinel Focșa in the 36th minute of play. Laurențiu Popescu took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Edgar Vlas, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 44 minutes into the match, FC ciufulici's goalkeeper Marius Rusu had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Cristinel Focșa. In the 46th minute, Cătălin Dumitrescu hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Toader Ghișe received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 47th minute. Laurențiu Popescu tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 2-1 at half-time.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Gheorghe Craioveanu to make the kick off. After some careless play in the Alexandria Team08 defense, Edgar Vlas kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Laurențiu Popescu. The Alexandria Team08 fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Laurențiu Popescu should have stopped the shot. In the 62nd match minute, Alexandria Team08 was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Daniel Seelmann to maneuver through the defense. FC ciufulici were furious when Horia Robescu was red carded, 64 minutes into the game, but the referee dismissed their protests. In a very dangerous position, a player in FC ciufulici fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 64th minute. Penalty! In the 71st match minute, FC ciufulici was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Ioan Cozma to maneuver through the defense. After 72 played minutes, Alexandria Team08's Eric Pădure shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Marius Rusu came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Alexandria Team08 reached it. After 76 played minutes Alexandria Team08 got a freekick which was hit by Cătălin Dumitrescu. The audience thought a goal was coming when George Giurcă got free with Laurențiu Popescu in the 78th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Francisc Tarcu could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 85th minute of the match, but Laurențiu Popescu made a huge save. Laurențiu Popescu showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Francisc Tarcu in the 88th minute of the match. George Giurcă fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 93rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Laurențiu Popescu having to interfere. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The Alexandria Team08 fans cheered their team off the field, for while FC ciufulici had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.