USV Iași drew away at Bradul Putna in the Romanian Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, winning 2:1 to book their place in the last four. The result ended Bradul Putna's cup campaign and sent the visitors through on aggregate despite the narrow margin.
Going into the tie, the form lines suggested otherwise. Bradul Putna had just hammered Bukovina Rădăuți 9:0 on 29 July, a result that made them favourites. USV Iași's recent record was less convincing — a 1:0 win over Știința București on the same date, but also heavy defeats to Politehnica Iași and Pașcani.
By then, the match had taken a different turn. The hosts started brightly but could not hold their advantage, and USV Iași found a way back into it. The away side scored twice to take control, while Bradul Putna's reply came too late to change the outcome.
The victory means USV Iași remain in the competition with one step closer to the final. Bradul Putna will need to regroup quickly; a 9:0 win one week and a 1:2 loss the next shows how quickly fortunes can shift in cup football.
What stands out is not the margin but the shift in momentum. The hosts played with energy but switched off at key moments, and that is often enough to decide these ties. USV Iași have now moved past the quarter-finals, and the semi-finals await.