USV Yass edged past Ketațea Sucava 1-0 in the Romanian Cup semi-finals on Tuesday, booking their place in the showpiece match through a first-minute strike. The home side held firm after A. Cuculescu's 11th-minute opener to complete the double over their opponents in this competition. By then the result was already shaping up to be a tight affair, and the visitors never quite found the rhythm they needed.
The decisive moment came early, with Cuculescu finding space in the box and slotting home before the game could settle into its groove. It was a goal that shifted the balance immediately, and Yass never looked like surrendering it. To be fair, Sucava had chances to respond, but they were out of sight by half-time and could never quite close the gap.
The hosts arrive in the final on the back of two consecutive victories, having beaten Bradul Putna 2-1 and Știința Bucharest 1-0 in their last outings. Those results suggest a side finding confidence at the right moment, though past encounters with Politehnica Iași and Vaslui remind us they can still leave themselves exposed. The visitors, meanwhile, pulled off a 2-0 win over ACS Târgu Mureș but followed it with a 1-3 defeat to Concordia — inconsistency remains their Achilles heel.
What this match lacked in drama it made up for in clinical efficiency. One goal, one decisive moment, and the rest was simply about managing the lead. And here's the thing — that's often how cup ties are decided, not through sustained pressure but through seizing the single chance that matters.
Yass now sit one victory away from lifting the Romanian Cup, while Sucava's campaign comes to an end with a regrettable sense of what might have been. The semi-final stage proved a step too far for the visitors, who found no answer to an early setback they never quite recovered from.