FCM Ungheni took their first point of the season on Saturday, 8 August, after a 1-1 with CSF Spartanii-Sportul in the second round of Liga 1 — the second tier of Moldovan football. It was a point won, but also one lost: the town’s team led from the last minute of the first half until the final minute of the match, and were only equalised by a penalty in the closing stoppage time.
Both goals came from the penalty spot, at the two ends of the match. Florin Cojocaru, number 10, opened the scoring in the 45+1 minute from the spot, and Ungheni went into the break 0-1 up. The equaliser fell in the 90+1 minute, also from a penalty, converted by Devonte Marlon J Richards, number 9 for the hosts. The official match report records the scorer and the minute of each goal, but not the passages of play that led to the two penalties.
A ‘home’ match played in Chișinău
Although in the fixture list FCM Ungheni were down as the visiting side, the match was not played in Selemet, the village in Cimișlia district that Spartanii-Sportul come from, but at the Real Succes stadium in Chișinău, an artificial pitch — a neutral ground, then, for both teams. According to the federation’s portal, two of this round’s matches were moved to the capital.
There were 250 spectators in the stands, according to the official match report.
How the match unfolded
Ungheni scored first, in first-half stoppage time. From the 45+1 minute until the 90+1 minute, the side coached by Dorin Bambuleac were in front — almost the entire second half. The equaliser came in the match’s final passage, from a penalty awarded to the hosts.
In that very 90+1 minute, the report records two more things: the Ungheni goalkeeper Cristian Cebotari was shown a yellow card for “dissent through actions”, and the coach replaced captain Octavian Vătavu with Adrian Enache. From 0-1 for the visitors, the scoreboard came to rest at 1-1.
Who played
Compared with the first round, Bambuleac changed his starting goalkeeper: Cristian Cebotari, number 25, started in goal in place of Lucian Cebotari, number 1 — a starter in the opening round and now an unused substitute. Octavian Vătavu, number 77, remained captain.
Ungheni’s starting line-up:
- Goalkeeper: 25 Cristian Cebotari
- Outfield: 3 Nicu Grițunic · 4 Vasile Marjin · 7 Dmitri Maneacov · 8 Ilia Pavlov · 10 Florin Cojocaru · 11 Stanislav Sarain · 17 Artiom Zvezdenco · 22 Alexandru Ursu · 27 David Cemschi · 77 Octavian Vătavu (captain)
The coach made four changes. At half-time Andrei Stratan — the man who had scored Ungheni’s only goal in the first round — came on for Artiom Zvezdenco. In the 73rd minute Bogdan Plăcintă (for Dmitri Maneacov) and Artiom Sigal (for Stanislav Sarain) came on, and in the 90+1 Adrian Enache replaced the captain. Remaining unused on the bench were goalkeeper Lucian Cebotari, Sergiu Babin and Denis Vătavu.
The match was refereed in the middle by Alexandru Ababii, assisted on the lines by Liviu State and Zaharia Cotruța. Four yellow cards were shown, no red. Three of them went to the Ungheni players: Nicu Grițunic in the 30th minute, Florin Cojocaru in the 58th and Cristian Cebotari in the 90+1. The hosts finished with a single yellow, shown to Nicholas Mensah in the 38th minute.
Who are Spartanii-Sportul
Saturday’s opponent is a club from Selemet, a village in Cimișlia district, in the south of Moldova. It was founded in 2011 and, last season, also played in Liga 1, which it finished in last place. The team is coached by Igor Ursachi.
Like Ungheni, Spartanii-Sportul had gone into this round without a single point: they had lost the first round 0-4 to Zimbru-2. The two teams will meet twice more in this phase: in Ungheni, in round 7 (11–12 September), and again away, in round 12 (30–31 October).
What the table shows after two rounds
The draw leaves Ungheni 5th in Group A, with one point. On the same points line sits Spartanii-Sportul too, bottom of the table, whom the Ungheni side edge out in the standings on a better goal difference. Out in front are Vulturii Cutezători, the only team on maximum points after two rounds.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vulturii Cutezători | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6-2 | 6 |
| 2 | FC Iskra | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3-3 | 3 |
| 3 | CF Univer | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4-4 | 3 |
| 4 | Zimbru-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6-4 | 3 |
| 5 | FCM Ungheni | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2-4 | 1 |
| 6 | CSF Spartanii-Sportul | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1-5 | 1 |
In the round’s other two matches, played on Friday, 7 August, Vulturii Cutezători beat FC Iskra 3-1 — the round’s other match moved to Chișinău, on the same Real Succes pitch — and CF Univer got past Zimbru-2 4-2, in Comrat.
What is at stake this autumn remains what was explained at the start of the championship: at the end of the first phase’s 15 rounds, the group’s top two teams take the short road to promotion, and the other four the long one, through a play-off. It was exactly in the play-off that Ungheni came to a halt last season, after the defeat by FC Florești in May.
What comes next
The third round brings the team back home: FCM Ungheni play on Saturday, 15 August, from 18.00, at the municipal stadium in Ungheni, against CF Univer. It is the first home match since the opening-round defeat and a chance to take three points in front of their own supporters.
Then comes an away trip to Zimbru-2 (Friday, 21 August) and another home match, against FC Iskra (Friday, 28 August, from 17.00).