Voluntari fell to 1:2 defeat against Petrolul Ploiești in the fifth round of Liga I at Stadionul Anghel Iordănescu on Thursday. The visitors completed a comeback after Bran Flores had given the hosts an advantage from the penalty spot, and M. Roman had extended that lead before the break. By then, Petrolul had turned things around through B. Malula's second-half goal.
Voluntari paid for a sloppy opening. Flores converted a penalty in the ninth minute, and Roman added a second just before the quarter-hour mark. The home side went into the interval two goals up, but Petrolul began to breathe. They drew level through Malula in the seventy-first minute, and the momentum shifted.
Petrolul had more of the ball in the final third and created similar chances on paper. Both sides produced four big chances, but the visitors were more clinical with their finishing. Voluntari dominated possession at 55 per cent yet failed to convert their dominance into a comfortable result.
The statistics tell a story of missed opportunities. Voluntari managed five shots on target from ten attempts, while Petrolul hit the mark five times from seventeen efforts. The hosts registered more passes overall, but the away side's key passes—seventeen to Voluntari's eight—suggest they were more dangerous in the final third.
This result leaves Voluntari fifteenth on eight points from eight games, while Petrolul sit third with fifteen points. The home side's recent form has been difficult—they arrived here following a heavy 4:0 loss to Dinamo Bucharest—whereas the visitors had won their previous outing against Oțelul.