Playing for more than 70 minutes with ten men proved too much for our team: despite our territorial dominance and fluent passing before the sending-off, we missed the opportunity to return home from Botoșani with one or even all three points.
Playing for more than 70 minutes with ten men proved too much for our team: despite our territorial dominance and fluent passing before the sending-off, we missed the opportunity to return home from Botoșani with one or even all three points.
The hosts welcomed FK Csíkszereda in a festive atmosphere. Issue 47 of the local weekly Independentul de Botoșani, published on the day of the match, looked back on FC Botoșani’s 25-year history: the team started out in the third tier in 2001 and have competed continuously in the top flight since 2013, reaching both the play-offs and European competition. The newspaper also pointed out, however, that the club are still forced to play at the outdated Municipal Stadium, while plans for a new arena have made no progress for years.
The Red and Blacks set out to spoil the celebrations and came close to doing so. Territorial dominance, fluent passing and chances all suggested that the conditions were there for a successful away trip, but one ill-judged challenge in the 18th minute changed everything. From that point on, the question was whether we could at least preserve the draw – ultimately, we could not.
The most loyal group of Lokálpatrióták supporters accompanied our team to Botoșani as well and believed in a positive result throughout. Their confidence was not unfounded: we controlled the opening quarter of an hour, enjoyed more possession, moved the ball well and created a chance. In the 15th minute, for example, Anestis Ioannis parried Pászka Lóránd’s 20-yard volley.
Three minutes later, however, the complexion of the match changed completely. Szabó Alex was involved in a challenge inside the opposition half, after which Dumiter Ioan Andrei found the net at the end of a Botoșani counter-attack launched with a numerical advantage. The goal was disallowed for offside, but following a VAR review, referee Feșnic Horațiu sent off Ódor Máté, who made a studs-up challenge on a home player far from our goal.
We did not abandon our attacking intentions even after going down to ten men. In the 26th minute, Palmeș Raul was left unmarked to meet Pászka’s free-kick with a header from eleven metres, but the ball ended up in Anestis’ hands. Two minutes later, Mailat’s cross deflected dangerously towards our goal off the back of Pászka’s head. We threatened from another set piece in the 34th minute, when Eppel Márton headed goalwards from eight metres, but the home goalkeeper saved again.
We were pushed increasingly deep towards the end of the first half. Bodișteanu Ștefan fired wide from eighteen metres in the 41st minute, before Ilaș Narcis broke forward and delivered an accurate pass to Dumiter two minutes later. The striker attempted to finish from close range while falling, but Pap Eduard produced an excellent save to gather the ball. Dumiter sent another effort wide in the 44th minute, while in added time Bodișteanu slalomed through our defence and, although he had already beaten Pap, one of our recovering defenders blocked the shot with his back to the ball. We therefore managed to keep the score goalless until the interval.
The home pressure intensified in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Pap tipped Papa’s near-post effort behind for a corner. Four minutes later, Kovtalyuk Mykola was unable to beat our goalkeeper from point-blank range, and Mitrov suffered the same fate in the 58th minute. Mitrov’s 61st-minute free-kick missed the target, but Pap’s momentum carried him into the net, which tore and forced a brief interruption to the match.
In the 65th minute, another Mitrov attempt was thwarted by the combined efforts of Pap and Szabó Alex. Three minutes later, our goalkeeper was called into action again to save Miron’s goal-bound effort. A major chance then fell our way in the 69th minute. Eppel was fouled, but the referee played advantage, allowing Trif Răzvan to race clear and aim for the far corner – Anestis managed to turn the ball away with his fingertips.
The reply came almost immediately at the other end. Dumiter accelerated before firing into the near corner from outside the penalty area to score the only goal of the match (1–0). Our team fought hard during the remaining minutes but were unable to find an equaliser.
Head coach Szabó István said the original match plan had worked perfectly until the sending-off, after which the team were forced to adjust their play.
– The time available to us was obviously limited, as we only arrived home from Bucharest early on Thursday morning, but we had a match plan that worked perfectly until the sending-off. We then had to make changes, focusing on transitions and set pieces from a compact defensive shape. Even with ten men, we created the opportunities that were available to us and found ourselves in several goalscoring situations. I feel very sorry for the boys because they fought tremendously hard and showed once again that this team has great character. The irresponsible action that led to the sending-off was decisive and undoubtedly shaped the match. I trust that we will secure our first league victory at home on Saturday – our head coach said.
Superliga, regular season, Matchday 6
FC Botoșani–FK Csíkszereda 1–0 (0–0)
Municipal Stadium, Botoșani, Monday, 24 August 2026, 6.30pm. Attendance: 4612
Scorer: Dumiter Ioan Andrei (69).
Sent off: Ódor Máté (18).
Yellow cards: Petro Charles (32), De Vega Lucas (37), Bodișteanu Ștefan (45); Bota Darius (60), Szabó Alex (79), Pászka Lóránd (86), Csürös Attila (90+2).
FC Botoșani: Anestis Ioannis – Bayeye Brian, Miron George Andrei (c), Diarra Mamadou, Ilaș Narcis (Creț Răzvan Bogdan, 90) – De Vega Lucas, Petro Charles (Kovtalyuk Mykola, 54), Papa Enriko – Bodișteanu Ștefan (Mitrov Zoran, 46), Dumiter Ioan Andrei (Bordeianu Mihai Cătălin, 77), Mailat Sebastian Árpád (Gama da Silva Gabriel, 78).
Head coach: Croitoru Marius Marian.
FK Csíkszereda: Pap Eduard – Szabó Alex, Palmeș Raul, Csürös Attila – Ódor Máté, Pászka Lóránd, Veres Szilárd (c), Trif Răzvan – Czékus Ádám (Szalay Sabolcs, 86), Eppel Márton (Horváth Artúr, 75), Tóth-Pál Előd (Bota Darius, 46).
Head coach: Szabó István.
Referee: Feșnic Horațiu (Cluj-Napoca).
Assistant referees: Avram Valentin-Gabriel (Bucharest), Cerei Alexandru (Cluj-Napoca).
Fourth official: Baban Vlad Mircea (Iași).
VAR: Andrei Florin (Târgu Mureș).
AVAR: Porumbel Valentin (Călărași).
Referee observer: Ciubotariu Liviu (Galați).
Our team will next take to the pitch on Saturday, 29 August at 4pm, when we host CFR Cluj at the Municipal Stadium in Miercurea Ciuc in Matchday 7 of the Superliga regular season.
Rédai Attila