Pibe 1 - 0 Hunedoara (392639990)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 34375 had shown up at Maximux Arena for the match. Ángel Atarés was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Figo Beudeker and Kamen Gerginov. Pibe tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Sayhan - Cârlan, Kesiár, Şirian - Dincă, Durrant, Rolff, Pescaru, Boeru - Arno, Marinello.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Hunedoara. The following players had been chosen: Manolache - Ionescu, Bălănica, Buhaiu - Buhoiu, Indrea, Varga, Buruiană, Gherghişan - Filipescu, Bălăceanu.

Pibe had a good opportunity to take the lead as P. Durrant came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of M. Manolache. Pibe could have put themselves ahead after 35 minutes but F. Arno missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Pibe, with 76 percent of the ball.

63 minutes into the game, Pibe wanted to bring some new energy to their game. F. Boeru gave W. Yong Chi a quick hug as he left the field. After a fine move down the middle F. Arno nearly gave the home side a goal after 63 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave F. Arno from Pibe a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 68 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Hunedoara were forced into a substitution as I. Buhoiu couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing T. Soare to come in off the bench. Pibe's C. Pescaru tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. Pibe fans held their breath as C. Pescaru scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! Possession in this half belonged to Pibe, who controlled the ball 76 percent of the time.

Pibe's best player was C. Marinello. On the other hand, A. Şirian's play was disheartening. Hunedoara's top performer was clearly C. Filipescu. C. Gherghişan turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 0.