“Teams with high claims left with points from here”

The hosts categorically dominated the second half, sending no less than 19 shots at Dur-Bozoancă's goal.

Laszlo Balint, after Botoșani – Oțelul 0-0: “We would have liked the victory”

The visiting technician spoke about the playing field, but also about the fact that he wanted the victory:

“We didn't play our best game. We knew we were facing an aggressive team that puts pressure on the opponent. We would have liked to create more goal situations, but it is a field that only CFR won, and teams with higher claims than Oțelul left with points from here. We wanted the victory.

We have a tough schedule at the moment. Our concern is to bring back the spirit and energy to the boys. Let's not forget that Botoșani has the best defense in the championship and it's hard to create chances in this stadium. Anestis is one of the fittest goalkeepers, and Dur-Bozoancă helped us this season. But it is a hard point.

I want to thank the organizers because the field presented itself in an almost optimal condition. It's February and we have to stick to the calendar. A long trip to the leader's field awaits us, where we need to regain our pace and level of concentration. After the match with Craiova, we arrive in Galați and think about the match with FCSB”, said Balint.

Paul Iacob: “A tough fight”

And Paul Iacob, the central defender from Rapid, spoke about the match:

“I knew it was going to be a difficult match. You can't even breathe properly and after a sprint you take longer to recover. I congratulate the people from Botoșani and those who took care of the land. We had thawed ground, hard but thawed. We didn't go skating, let's slide.

I think both teams owed money tonight, because we didn't have a spectacular game. I resorted to hitting and I didn't have many opportunities. Botoșani pushes you into a physical, manly game, and it was normal not to wait for them to come over us and make mistakes. We preferred not to risk anything, and this 0-0 is fair for both teams.

I think that even the teams that are there, in front, are not thinking about the play-offs yet, they want to mathematically secure their place. I am glad that we are part of this fight and that we can claim the play-offs. A fierce battle.

In the championship round, we lost with Botoșani, now we won. We won with Craiova, now we have a match against them. We lost with FCSB, and now it remains to be seen”, declared Iacob after the match, on Digi Sport 1.

It's a time when you can't make many claims. We tried to play as well as we could. The pitch felt pretty good, even if this temperature is hard to deal with. I think we could have done a little bit more tonight, but in the end we're leaving undefeated. A fair result, I say. Those from Botoșani put pressure on us, but they had only one clear opportunity and it is a fair result.
Every point counts, it's important to get something every game. We wanted the 3 points, but it's one point. We leave for Craiova tomorrow, we have to recover and try to get the most out of it.

– declared Dur-Bozoancă, the goalkeeper of the Galați team