Rapid beat CFR Cluj 1907 3-1 in the third round of Liga I on Saturday evening. The result keeps the home side second in the table while Cluj remain ninth after seven matches. By then the visitors had already shown they would control possession but not find the cut-through they needed.
Alex Dobre opened the scoring in the twenty-eighth minute before adding a second five minutes later. Olimpiu Morutan completed Rapid's tally in the forty-second, and the visitors could not respond before half-time. And here's the thing — rapid transitions from defence to attack made the difference rather than sustained pressure.
Stefan Drazic pulled one back for Cluj in the fifty-first minute after Morutan had been substituted off. The visitors threw bodies forward but found no answer to Rapid's compact shape. To be fair the hosts did not travel to make up the numbers, and their efficiency in the final third told.
Cluj held 61 per cent possession and registered 95 attacks compared to Rapid's 62, yet the visitors shot less accurately with 24 per cent on target. Rapid converted 64 per cent of their shots, with seven on target and four goals. And here's the thing — the statistics suggest a different story, but the result speaks for itself.
Rapid move to 15 points from eight games, with four wins, three draws and one defeat. Cluj stay on 10 points after seven matches, with three victories and three losses. The gap between the sides narrows, but the quality of chances created remains the dividing line.