Goal “painted” by Cătălin Cîrjan! That's how Dinamo opened the way to the first victory in the play-off
Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Saturday, April 18, 2026 11:05 p.m. / Updated Saturday, April 18, 2026 11:07 p.m.
Captain Cătălin Cîrjan (23 years old) was the one who opened the scoreboard on Saturday evening, at the National Arena, in the duel Dinamo – U Cluj, in the 5th stage of the Superleague play-off. The Dogs won 2-1, their first win of the play-offs, while the leaders suffered their first top 6 setback.
It was Cîrjan who scored a superb goal, 15 minutes before the end, with the score 0-0, triggering the madness in the country's biggest stadium.
Dinamo put pressure on U Cluj, and the current leader only tried to strike Bucharest on the counterattack. And the insistence of the “dogs” was rewarded in the 75th minute, when Cătălin Cîrjan added his name to the list of scorers, with a superb success.
Cătălin Cîrjan, gem of a goal in U Cluj's goal
Having fought back seconds before, to the dismay of the fans, the home captain got his revenge. Chipciu lost, Armstrong slipped, recovered in time and passed decisively to Cătălin Cîrjan, who beat Gertmonas in cold blood.
Six minutes later, Dinamo doubled their advantage. From a corner, the ball was deflected from inside the box and Alexandru Musi sent perfectly from the edge of the box, no chance for Gertmonas.
The final in Bucharest heated up and became absolutely crazy. U Cluj reduced the deficit with Atanas Trică's goal, but in the end Dinamo finished in front, giving U Cluj its first play-off failure, which may lose first place on Sunday evening, if Craiova University wins at home, against Rapid.
