Romania and Montenegro on Sunday evening ended their first 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier in a tie, 1-1 (0-0). They played at Cluj Arena of Cluj-Napoca.
Romania were very close to getting a win in their first match coached by German Christoph Daum, but Nicolae Stanciu failed to score a penalty kick in the last seconds of overtime. Adrian Popa (85) had scored first, but the Montenegro equalised thanked to Stevan Jovetic (87).
After a less spectacular first half, Romania dominated the second one, but they failed to build goal scoring opportunities.
The guests got the biggest opportunity in minute 5, when Beciraj managed to sprint to the posts untackled, but Pantilimon did an excellent job of blocking the player off.
Romania responded with Sapunaru (7) side-netting an angle shooting. Beciraj (17) shot the ball over the posts from 17 m. The best goal scoring opportunity for Romania came from (21), but his shooting was deflected by Bozovic. Montenegro’s best ball possession was in the first half, but the game was generally balanced. More…