Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Sunday, April 12, 2026 9:02 p.m. / Updated Sunday, April 12, 2026 9:10 p.m.
Claudiu Niculescu (49 years old), the coach of Unirea Slobozia, drew his conclusions at the end of the match with Petrolul, failure 1-2, in the 4th stage of the Superleague play-out. He accused three arbitration decisions, considering that the team he leads was disadvantaged.
The technician of Ialomița accused that during the second goal of Prahoven, achieved by Gicu Grozav, a player of the opponents was in an irregular position.
He also had question marks regarding the last tense phase of the match, in extra time, when Feșnic initially awarded a penalty to Slobozia, but reversed the decision after seeing the phase on the VAR monitor.
The coach of the hosts also recalled the phase in the 76th minute, when Teodor Lungu was hit by Marco Dulca in the figure and started to bleed, but the opponent only received a yellow card.
The reaction of Claudiu Niculescu, after the failure with Petrolul
“I would like you to review if it is possible to phase from the 2nd goal, at Gicu's shot there is a player in an offside position, this is what I saw on the phone. He does not lower himself in front of the ball and was on its trajectory. It is possible that I am wrong, but I would ask him to review.
I think it was a penalty in the final minutes. I can be accused of subjectivity, that's normal, but I don't know… the ball was cleared by our striker and then he was hit in the back of the head, because they went head-to-head.
Mr. Feșnic told me that for head-to-head kicks in which no penalty is awarded, I'm not good at refereeing, unclear phases, I don't know what the rules are.
I am subjective at this moment, I am Slobozia's coach, I say it was a penalty, but I would like them to analyze the phases.
I congratulated them after the match, they had great desire, spirit of sacrifice, attitude, it's normal not to count on the attack.
The elimination came, it was normal to take a step back. I can't explain Orozco's mistake, I don't know what he wanted to do there, he was 30-40 meters from the goal. I don't know, adrenaline. What's important is what we're left with, from that moment Petrol put pressure on us,” said Claudiu Niculescu, after the match, on the Digi Sport microphone.
The ranking from the Superliga play-out
