Unirea Slobozia saw off Agriicola Borça 4-1 in the Romanian Cup semi-finals at the weekend. The away side took control early, scoring within three minutes and never looking back despite a late flurry from the hosts. Borça had chances to narrow the deficit but missed two penalties in quick succession, and the result sends Unirea through to the final.
The opening goal came in the third minute, catching Borça on the wrong foot. Unirea doubled their advantage before half-time with a second strike in the 38th minute. The hosts pulled one back later, though the exact minute isn't recorded, and the visitors responded with two more goals — one in the 63rd, another in the 74th. And here's the thing, Borça's late desperation yielded nothing of consequence.
Agriicola took two penalties in the closing stages, the first in the 87th and the second in the 88th, both from the spot. They missed both. By then the game was effectively done, but the visitors added a fifth goal in stoppage time, the 90+4th minute, to put a period on the proceedings. To be fair, Borça threw everything at the game after going behind, but the defense couldn't handle the pressure.
Unirea dominated possession at 55 per cent and registered six shots on target compared to four for the hosts. Borça had more shots off target — eleven — suggesting they were shooting from difficult positions. The visitors were more clinical, while the hosts' attacks of 91 were scattered. Unirea also had fewer corners but made better use of their opportunities.
This result means Unirea Slobozia have reached the Romanian Cup final. Agriicola Borça's cup campaign is over, and they'll need to regroup for league duties. The hosts had been unbeaten in their recent run, but this semi-final defeat ends whatever momentum they'd built. Four goals conceded is a heavy blow for a team that fancied their chances at this stage.