FCM Ungheni beat Vulturii Cutezători 6-1 on Saturday, 24 October, at the Ungheni Town Stadium, in round 11 of Liga 1, the second tier of Moldovan football. On 1 August, in round 1, the same opponents had won 1-3 at the same stadium.
The win keeps the town’s team in third place in Group A with 18 points, four behind Vulturii Cutezători and FC Iskra, who have 22 each. Four rounds remain until the end of the first phase, so FCM Ungheni can collect at most 12 more points. The gap between second and third place matters: under the federation’s regulations, only the top two teams in the group go into Group 1 of the second phase, where the Liga 1 winner and the right to play in Liga 7777 are decided. Places 3–6 go to Group 2, and from there promotion is possible only through the play-off.
A hat-trick for Stratan
Artiom Zvezdenco opened the scoring in the 10th minute. In the 44th minute the visitors were awarded a penalty, but goalkeeper Lucian Cebotari saved Gulceac’s kick, according to the match report published by the divizia-a.md portal. A minute later Andrei Stratan made it 2-0, and after the break he scored again, in the 47th minute.
Zvezdenco made it 4-0 in the 59th minute. Vulturii Cutezători pulled one back in the 62nd minute through Secureanu, but Dmitri Maneacov restored the four-goal margin a minute later. Stratan completed the scoring in the 90+2nd minute with his third goal of the match.
The team’s captain was Octavian Vătavu. The match was refereed by C. Levinte.
The road since round 3
After the first three rounds, FCM Ungheni had four points and were also in third place. In the eight rounds since, FCM Ungheni collected 14 points, from four wins, two draws and two defeats, according to the federation’s official results:
| Round | Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 21 August | Zimbru-2 – FCM Ungheni | 1-3 |
| 5 | 28 August | FCM Ungheni – FC Iskra | 2-3 |
| 6 | 5 September | Vulturii Cutezători – FCM Ungheni | 3-4 |
| 7 | 12 September | FCM Ungheni – CSF Spartanii-Sportul | 5-2 |
| 8 | 18 September | CF Univer – FCM Ungheni | 1-1 |
| 9 | 9 October | FCM Ungheni – Zimbru-2 | 1-2 |
| 10 | 16 October | FC Iskra – FCM Ungheni | 2-2 |
| 11 | 24 October | FCM Ungheni – Vulturii Cutezători | 6-1 |
Before Saturday’s match, the team had gone three rounds without a win: a draw at Univer, a defeat to Zimbru-2 and a draw at Iskra.
The table after 11 rounds
| Place | Team | P | W | D | L | Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vulturii Cutezători | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 30-21 | 22 |
| 2 | FC Iskra | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 25-11 | 22 |
| 3 | FCM Ungheni | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 32-21 | 18 |
| 4 | Zimbru-2 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 20-22 | 16 |
| 5 | CF Univer | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 22-24 | 12 |
| 6 | CSF Spartanii-Sportul | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 16-46 | 4 |
With 32 goals scored, FCM Ungheni have the most productive attack among the six teams in Group A. The table above is the one published by the federation after round 11.
In the other matches of the round, played on Friday, 23 October, Zimbru-2 beat CSF Spartanii-Sportul 3-1 and FC Iskra won 1-0 at CF Univer.
What comes next
Round 12 takes FCM Ungheni away to bottom side CSF Spartanii-Sportul on Friday, 30 October, at 13.00, at the Real Succes stadium, according to the federation’s calendar. The next day, 31 October, FC Iskra play Vulturii Cutezători, the two teams ahead of Ungheni.
FCM Ungheni’s remaining first-phase fixtures:
- Round 12 (Friday, 30 October, 13.00): CSF Spartanii-Sportul – FCM Ungheni, away
- Round 13 (Saturday, 7 November, 13.00): FCM Ungheni – CF Univer, home
- Round 14 (Friday, 20 November, 13.00): Zimbru-2 – FCM Ungheni, away
- Round 15 (Friday, 27 November, 13.00): FCM Ungheni – FC Iskra, home