2015-04-03 21:50:52

Last night, "U" advanced to Romanian Cup Final as we announced more than two months ago.

Adrian Falub's players won via a penalty shootout that finished 4-2. The final score at the end of 120 minutes of play was 0-0; the same result as the first leg. 

The start of the match saw Morar play Lemnaru through on goal in the 4th minute, but the opponent's goalie intercept the pass. A minute later, an opponent's cross was held by "U"'s Slovakian goalkeeper. Another opponent had chances to score in the 11th and 52nd minutes, but Veselovsky held both shots. Gravenberch's shot in the 37th minute was held by the away side's goalie. At the half, the score was 0-0.

The second half started with Gravenberch's through ball towards Kovacs being held by the opponent's goalkeeper. Ceppelini's header in the 60th minute was saved by the goalie while Kovacs' shot 2 minutes later went wide of the away side's goal. An opponent's shot from inside the box in the 64th minute went over Universitatea's crossbar. Gravenberch's shot following a pass from Ceppelini in the 71st minute went into the side netting while his shot 11 minutes later went just wide of the opponent's goal. As such, the score at the end of regular time was 0-0.

In extra time, Mengolo could've put "U" in the Romanian Cup final in the 93rd and 107th minutes, but both of his shots just missed the away side's goal. Gravenberch's header in the 114th minute was held by the opponent's goalie and as such, the score was 0-0 after extra time.

The penalty shootout saw Ciupe, Lungu, Castillion, and Cristocea score for Universitatea while two opponents missed their penalties. As a result, Universitatea Cluj will play in the 2014-2015 Romanian Cup Final (Here's the video).

We've posted pictures taken by Adrian Petrean, Ármán Noémi and Cristi Cosma during the match in the "Photo" section.

Raul Ciupe, Pablo Ceppelini, and Neag have played the most minutes for "U" in this season's Romanian Cup, having played 420, 375, and 323 minutes respectively. Lorand Kovacs has seen the most yellow cards (3) while Pablo Ceppelini has scored the most goals (4).

Universitatea's qualification in the Romanian Cup final is the 5th in their history having played in the 1933-1934, 1941-1942, 1948-1949 and 1964-1965 Cup finals. Fifty years ago, Știința Cluj's players, managed by Andrei Sepsi, beat Dinamo Pitești in the Romanian Cup final by score of 2-1 with goals from Remus Câmpeanu (in the 11th minute) and Zoltan Ivansuc (55th minute).

Falub's squad's next match will be on Saturday, April 4th at 20:30 when they will face Rapid București at home in the 24th round of Liga 1.

FC Universitatea Cluj – ***        4-2 (0-0 after extra time)

The 2014 – 2015 Romanian Cup

Round: Semifinals; 2nd leg

Goalscorers: Ciupe (120); Lungu (120); Castillion (120); Cristocea (120) 

Yellow Cards: Kovacs (19); Morar (26); Lungu (74); Castillion (102)

„U” Cluj: Veselovsky - Ciupe; Škvorc; Neag; Bambara - Lungu; Kovacs (71 Cristocea) – Morar (91 Mengolo); Ceppelini; Gravenberch – Lemnaru (65 Castillion). Manager: Adrian Falub

Referees: M. Avram (Bucureşti); S. E. Gheorghe (Suceava); V. Urzică (Piatra-Neamţ); C. Popa (Piteşti); A. Comănescu (Râmnicu Vâlcea)

Stadium: Dr. Mircea Luca

Violeta Merie