Unirea Dej beat Știința Baia Mare 3:1 in a club friendly on Thursday. The hosts won the match on their home ground after losing to the same opponents just one week earlier. The result came a day after both sides had suffered defeats in their previous outings.
By then the heat had taken the sting out of the earlier encounter. Știința had won 3:0 in the previous meeting, but the visitors could not repeat that dominance. Unirea came from the dead to take control, and the scoreline reflected a complete shift in momentum.
To be fair, both teams had mixed form going into this fixture. Unirea Dej had lost 2:3 to Zalău on Wednesday but also won 3:0 in the game before that. Știința Baia Mare had taken a heavy 0:3 defeat to Craiova on the same day as the previous loss to their opponents.
Here's the thing about friendlies — the result matters less than what happens on the pitch. Unirea Dej showed they could respond to a setback. They did not let last week's 3:0 loss define their preparation.
Neither side sits anywhere meaningful in a table yet. These matches are about finding shape. Unirea Dej took a step forward. Știința Baia Mare will need to regroup.
