Oțelul Galați visits the municipal stadium in Miercurea Ciuc on Monday evening, in a Round 8 Superliga match. The goal remains the same: to secure our first league victory.

Oțelul Galați visits the municipal stadium in Miercurea Ciuc on Monday evening, in a Round 8 Superliga match. The goal remains the same: to secure our first league victory.

Ilyés Róbert’s men had a midweek outing on Wednesday at Voluntari, where we claimed our first win of the season – unfortunately “only” in the Cup, but it was a remarkable one: an 8–1 triumph in which Márton Eppel played a starring role with a rare five-goal haul. The team and staff hope that this momentum can also be transferred into the championship, which is considered far more important.
“We know that Galați is a difficult opponent, and their latest win against CFR Cluj proves it. They have a very good coach, I know his style; it’s an aggressive team built on quality players, and recently they have also added some experienced names. They play attacking football, so we will have to be extremely focused in defence, as that has been our biggest problem lately. We must concentrate on giving our opponents as few chances as possible,” said head coach Ilyés Róbert at the pre-match press conference.

Five-goal hero at Voluntari, Márton Eppel, pointed out: “For strikers it’s always great to score, especially multiple times. I’m happy with these goals, but I also want to deliver in the league, just as the team does. That five-goal game was nice, but now my aim is to score again on Monday, so the team can succeed in the championship as well.”

Defender Raul Palmeș added: “We conceded too many goals in the Superliga, and that hurts defenders the most – but of course the whole team as well. I think we must be more focused at every moment of the match, because at this level any small mistake will be punished by the opponent. From the strikers to the defenders, the whole team has to pay more attention to defensive work, and then we’ll be more effective.”

We do have encouraging signs against Galați: in last season’s Cup, while they were still a Liga 2 side, we beat them 2–1 in the group stage. This summer, before our Austrian training camp, we drew 1–1 with them at the Campo Verde sports complex in Brașov.

Monday’s match kicks off at 18:00 at the municipal stadium and, as usual, will be broadcast on Digisport 1 and Prima Sport 1. Fans can also support the team live at the stadium: those who haven’t yet purchased a ticket can do so at our ticket office, which opens two hours before kick-off, at 16:00.

Rédai Attila
Photo: Pál Zoltán