Universitatea Craiova saw off Universitatea Cluj 4:0 in the Liga I on Monday evening. The home side took all three points at home ground, extending their unbeaten run at the expense of the visitors who fell to a third defeat in six league games.
Al Islam·Al Hamlawi opened the scoring in the 47th minute, his second goal of the half coming on the stroke of half-time. By then the match had settled into a pattern that favoured the hosts, who controlled territory despite Cluj's attempts to build from deeper positions.
Vladimir Screciu made it 3:0 in the 55th minute before Simon Elisor added a fourth in the 77th minute. Three yellow cards were shown before the break — Cristiano Bergodi, Alexandru Chipciu and Issouf Macalou — but the cards did little to slow the momentum that had built up.
The statistics tell a story of possession without penetration from Cluj. The visitors enjoyed 46 per cent of the ball but managed only three shots on target compared to Craiova's seven. They created just one big chance against two for the home side, and their attempts to break through the final third were consistently neutralised.
Craiova now sit fourth with 11 points from seven matches, while Cluj drop further down the table with nine points from six games. The result ends Cluj's recent hopes of climbing, and gives the hosts something to build on as the season progresses.
