Voluntari beat Argeș Pitești 1-0 in the eighth round of the Liga I regular season at Stadionul Anghel Iordanescu on Monday evening. Remus Gutea's twenty-first-minute strike proved enough to separate the sides after a contest where chances were at a premium. The result leaves Voluntari rooted to fifteenth place with five points from seven games, while Argeș remain eleventh on ten points.
And here's the thing — the goal came when both sides were still feeling each other out. Gutea finished after a sequence that built slowly, and by then Argeș had already shown they would dominate possession. Patrick Dulcea picked up a yellow card five minutes later, and the visitors continued to press forward. The home side sat deep and soaked it up, waiting for their moment.
Voluntari brought on Silviu Balaure just before half-time, then doubled their changes at the interval with Mihai Roman II and Marvin Schieb. Gabriel Charpentier followed in the seventy-third minute, and Oluwatobiloba Alagbe came on three minutes later. Lovro Cvek was the final substitution at eighty-three, and the visitors saw two more yellow cards — Matko Babić and Leard Sadriu — before Daniel Dumbravanu went off in stoppage time.
To be fair, the numbers tell a different story from the scoreline. Argeș held 56 per cent possession and registered 124 attacks compared with 64, yet their shot accuracy of nine per cent meant they could not convert. Voluntari managed only one big chance created, but they were more clinical on target with five shots hitting the mark. The hosts made 42 clearances and won 24 aerial duels, while Argeș crossed 39 times without finding the same reward.
The result extended Voluntari's unbeaten run in a minor way — they had drawn with Oţelul before this win. Argeș, meanwhile, had lost their last three away games, including a heavy defeat to FCSB. Both sides now turn to their next fixtures with the same questions unanswered.
