Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Friday, April 24, 2026, 9:11 p.m. / Updated Friday, April 24, 2026, 9:15 p.m.
Octavian Popescu, the left wing of the FCSB champion, was appointed in the match with Petrolul Ploiesti for the second game in a row, after starting from the first minute and the match with Farul Constanța, won with a score of 3-2.
The attacking midfielder of the red-blues managed to get his name on the scorers' list again, after a long break of 354 days.
VIDEO WITH PHASE. Octavian Popescu, empty after almost a year
In the 27th minute of the match at the National Arena between FCSB and Petrolul Ploiești, Octavian Popescu managed to break the bad period, scoring the 2-0 goal.
After an excellent recovery from an error committed by Paul Papp, former player of the red-blues from 2014-2016, the young midfielder finished precisely with his right foot, sending the ball into the side netting and making the score 2-0 for the Romanian champions.
For Octavian Popescu, the success comes after an extremely long period of waiting. His last goal was on May 5, 2025, when he scored a “double” in the 3-1 victory in the derby against Dinamo Bucharest.
Thus, Popescu scored his first goal of the current season only in the 6th stage of the play-out, after almost 1200 minutes played without success.
FCSB – Petrolul Ploiești, starting teams
FCSB (4-2-3-1): Matei Popa – Crețu, Dawa, M. Popescu, Radunovic – Fl. Tănase, Joao Paulo – Oct. Popescu, D. Olaru, Cisotti – Miculescu
reserves: Târnovanu, L. Zima, A. Duarte, Graovac, Arad, Lixandru, Toma, Pantea, Alhassan, Stoian, Toma, D. Popa
Coach: Lucian Filip (interim)
Petrol (4-2-3-1): Bălbarău – Ricardinho, Papp, Roche, Prce – M. Dulca, D. Rodrigues – R. Pop, Jyry, Grozav – Chică-Roşa
Reserves: Krell, Hermann, Ignat, Dongmo, B. Marian, Boateng, Paraschiv, V. Gheorghe, Hanca, Mateiu, Ludewig, Aimbetov
Coach: Mehmet Topal
The ranking from the Superliga play-out
