Romania continued its winning streak against Moldova in their latest international friendly match in Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău on November 20, where the Romanian Tricolors scored five goals past Moldovian Dumitru Celeadnic’s net.

A must-win decisive match, Edward Iordănescu’s men had only won three games in their last 10 international clashes since March and were relegated to League C in the UEFA Nation League, including their recent 1-2 friendly loss against Slovenia in Cluj Arena, Cluj-Napoca, last week.

The boss fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation, relying on Olimpiu Moruțan - Alexandru Cicâldău - Denis Drăguș attacking midfield trio in their last match of 2022.

Moruțan’s shot at the crossbar opened Romania’s scoring party within the first ten minutes of the game, followed by Drăguș in the 40th minute.

Cicâldău’s slick free kick in the second half proved to be the decisive goal for the Romanians. Moldovian veteran towering defender Igor Armas fouled youngster Daniel Paraschiv in the forbidden box, resulting in an easily converted penalty by the debutant. Captain Adrian Rus closed the feast with his first international goal in minute 88 from a corner.

With the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers on the horizon, Romanians are facing a busy 2023. They will head to Andorra to kick off their qualifying journey, hoping to return to the European stage since 2016 where they came home with 0 wins in a group of France, Switzerland, and Albania.

rafly@romania-insider.com

(Photo: Romanian National Team on Facebook)