With an extra man for an hour, CFR Cluj beats Oțelul and comes close to FCSB! Ranking in the fight for the play-offs

The only goal of the game was scored by Păun in the 3rd minute, after a defensive error by Laszlo Balint's team. From the 28th minute, the Galatasarays were outnumbered, after an unfortunate intervention by Conrado.

Chronicle by George Nistor after CFR Cluj – Oțelul 1-0: Pancu, low fire catenaccio

In a setting that demands heat from the stove, CFR Cluj and Oțelul met on the cloudless slopes of Gruia to test how much elasticity there is in a bocce ball and how much play-off hope it can carry, in its absence. It doesn't snow or wind, and after it bites, it numbs with anesthetic. The kind of evening where the stones don't just crack, they seem to complain to each other, as football becomes a pretentious act of bravery.

On the bench, Daniel Pancu braves and steams, with his warm blood and direct words. When he's not gesticulating, he's seething with the madness of wanting to succeed.

He scolds the air and looks down, deep in thought, towards his own. The CFR that was given to him presents itself as a team under the regime. To survive. The austerity can be seen from the highest seat in the stands to the last player on the score sheet. Lots of departures, discreet arrivals, on a bargain, as in a winter solstice.

On the other side, the Danubians crossed the Carpathians dripping into their souls the idea that they could lose the group fiber they have been working on since August until now. In Galati, it is sold out of need, not out of whim. It's the fate of a team dependent on industry.

On the sidelines, Laszlo Balint is calm made human. Gentle, attentive, with a camouflaged silence, he encourages, not yet in Lusitanian, the language of the locker room. It's normal, a “Come on!” we all know what it means, throughout this Balkan through which even the Portuguese settled in Micro 19 sought their purpose.

The 22nd round of the Superliga does not warm anyone up. They play to stay standing.

Conrado's madness held the direction

The frost set conditions from the first minute. Every foul was felt to the bone, the two formations proposing a blunt game, in places, since the means of expression did not really exist.

CFR quickly understood this and struck when Oțelul was still blowing his hands, in the 3rd minute of the game, like a slap on the back of the head, when Alibek Aliev, a Swede born in Dagestan, therefore already acclimatized, placed the ball perfectly in the box for Adița Păun, who shot from the first, short, past Dur-Bozoancă.

For the Danubians, the shock was visible. They built the first real attack timidly, only in the 7th minute. Then came the moment that changed the balance for good. Conrado fouled Cordea from the position of last defender. “Central” Găman was called to the VAR monitor and changed the color of the card, from yellow to red.

Despite the inferiority, the visitors got a shock just before the break through Andrezinho. The extreme left caught a shot from the edge of the box, went a little past, without endangering the legs of the new holder Vâlceanu. Ciobanu immediately followed, the goalkeeper brilliantly rejecting the execution from six meters.

Valceanu won his post. Even temporarily

In the second part, it was played at the pace of Cluj, without unnecessary accelerations, with more control and balls kept close. Daniel Pancu walked to the batteries. Kun gave way to Biliboc, Muhar was changed to Keita, and Korenica to Braun. Not high-stakes changes, but for energy. A sign that the match had to be carried to the end with freshness. And his counterpart tried to break it down, introducing Bană.

The railways let go of the safe passes, without too many risks, in close lines, preferring to let the match flow.

In the 69th minute, came the biggest chance of the Galatians. Bana found himself in an ideal position, with enough time to think he could change the course of the night, but he sent wide. Later, Pedro tried to contradict the scenario inside the box, but Vâlceanu's reflex kept, again, the scoreboard unchanged.

By the end, the visitors' efforts were ruined before they got to the execution. Big impact victory for CFR. Even if the hopes of accessing the play-offs still remain limited, Pancone has reached his goal, with his resources, while Oțelul remains in the spectrum of negative thoughts, at the start of the year.

Ranking in the Superliga

FINAL » CFR Cluj – Oțelul 1-0

• Min. 85: Andrezinho shot hard. The ball went a little past the CFR Cluj goal

• Min. 73: Nuno Pedro shot strongly on goal, but Vâlceanu opposed

• Min. 53: A brawl took place in the Oțelul box. Dur-Bozoancă received a pass from a colleague, the ball was touched by Biliboc, and the goalkeeper caught the ball in his hand. The hosts asked for an indirect free kick, and the Galatasarays reacted nervously. The spirits were quickly calmed, the “central” Găman intervened

• Min. 50: Cordea sent a dangerous shot, but Dur-Bozoancă saved

• Start in the second half! Daniel Pancu made three changes at halftime. Kun, Muhar and Korenica came out. Biliboc, Braun and Tidiane Keita entered. Laszlo Balint also made a change: Băna instead of Bordun

• Break in Gruia

• Min. 45+1: Big opportunity for Steel. Andrei Ciobanu shot in Vâlceanu from inside the box. The ball also bounced at the footballer from Galăți, but Ciobanu missed again.

• Min. 44: The people of Gălăți ask Kun to help, but Găman did not notice anything irregular.

• Min. 24: Conrado, the Steel footballer, made a foul in the position of the last defender. The defender made a mistake in defense, Cordea passed him, and Conrado fouled him in the position of the last defender. “Central” Găman awarded “yellow” in the first instance, but after the VAR analysis he showed the red card to the Brazilian.

The moment of the foul

• Min. 3: Paun managed to score after a mismatch in the visitors' box. The Oțel defenders missed the interventions, and the striker of the team from Gruia executed Dur-Bozoancă

• Game start! CFR Cluj had the kick-off

CFR Cluj – Oțelul, starting teams:

CFR CLUJ (4-3-3): Vâlceanu – Kun, Masic, Abeid, Camora – Muhar, Djokovic, Păun – Cordea, Aliev, Korenica
reserves: Gal, Braun, Șîrlea, M. Ilie, Al. Radu, T. Keita, Perianu, Fică, Şfaiț, Biliboc, Slimani
Absent: Kamara, S. Rocha (unmade)
Coach: Daniel Pancu

STEEL (4-2-3-1): Dur-Bozoancă – Zhelev, Zivulic (capt.), P. Iacob, Conrado – Pedro Nuno, Joao Paulo – Bordun, A. Ciobanu, Andrezinho – Patrick
reserves: I. Popescu, G. Ursu, DE Neicu, Wagatsuma Ferreira, Postelnicu, Frunză, Chira, Bană, D. Sandu, DC Neicu, Almeida Paz
Absent: Lameira (suspended), Ne Lopes (uncertain)
Coach: Laszlo Balint

Stadium: “Dr. Constantin Rădulescu”
Referee: George Gaman / Assistants: Imre-Laszlo Bucsi, Raul Ghiciulescu
VAR Referee: Ionuţ Coza / AVAR Referee: Sebastian Gheorghe

CFR Cluj – Steel, the most important information

• October 25, 2025, CFR Cluj-Farul 0-2 was the only defeat suffered by the Transylvanians in the last seven matches played in the championship at home, the rest three successes and three draws.

• The Galatians won three of the 10 trips in the current edition, and three other times they ended in a tie.

• CFR Cluj is the team that dispatched the most shots on the opponent's goal area – 126 (Oțelul – 99).

• 31 of the 32 goals scored by the Moldovans were scored from inside the box.

• The Steel have collected eight games without conceding a goal. On the other side, CFR Cluj, only three.

The two teams have met in the main domestic competition 27 times, Cluj won 17 times, Galați won five times, and five other games ended in a draw.

Records with CFR host: 13 matches – 8 successes CFR Cluj – 2 draws – 3 victories Oțelul.

• The first match took place on October 31, 2004, CFR Cluj-Oțelul 1-0, coaches Aurel Șunda, respectively Sorin Cârțu.

• The biggest score difference: October 7, 2013, CFR Cluj-Oțelul 7-2.

• The most recent match in the Romanian Superliga: August 24, 2025, Oțelul-CFR Cluj 4-1.