Romania vs Finland match review
Romania's national football team defeated Finland 2-nil in a friendly match on Wednesday in Ploiesti. Scoring for Romania were Cristian Manea in minute 37 and Ciprian Deac, who scored the second goal in minute 61. Manea and Deac both play for CFR Cluj, League One's current titleholders.
Romania began tentatively, having no major scoring opportunities. Both sides defended well, but Romania were somewhat more present in their opponents' half of the pitch. They threatened the Finnish goal a number of times and eventually scored in minute 37, when Alexandru Mitrita sent a powerful shot on goal. The Finnish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky deflected the ball, but the Romanian defender Cristian Manea was there to push the ball into the net and open the score for Romania. In the second half of the match, Romania's Deac scored the second goal, with contributions from Alexandru Baluta, Manea and Mitrita. Towards the end of the match, Romania managed to create a few more good scoring opportunities, but they failed to score another goal.
On 87 minutes, the goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu was replaced by Bogdan Lobont. For 40-year old Lobont, this was his 86th cap for the national squad and the last match before retirement. Bogdan Lobont first played for the national side in 1998. In his career, he also played for great European teams as Ajax Amsterdam and AS Roma.
Romania have won all their four friendly matches played this year: they first won 2-1 against Israel away, then defeated Sweden 1-nil win at home. This was followed by a win against Chile in Austria, 3-2 and another win, 2-nil, at home against Finland. Romania, who are managed by Cosmin Contra, will next take on Montenegro on September 7 at home in their first match as part of the UEFA Nations League.
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