Cherno Samba into management

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We faced Red Bull at home in a big Europa League game a win would put us second a draw or loss would leave us needing points away to Wolfsburg an unlikely scenario. Red Bull are missing the two players sent off on the last match. Just before the match I was told that I had won manager of the month. Enache won player of the month and William finished third. Anyway onto the match.

16 minutes: Yahaya knocked the ball up to Alibec he slid it to William he knocked it outside to Reginaldo he beat his man and took a shot from a tight angle. 1-0 Astra

21 minutes: Yahaya shoves Soriano to stop him heading a long throw penalty that Djurdic scores. 1-1

33 minutes: Maranhao has a free kick wide at the edge of the box his cross is cleared to Reginaldo who plays it back to him he crosses it again and Alibec headed it down to Enache who half volleys it in from close range. 2-1 Astra

37 minutes: Enache hits a clearance it goes over the centre back's head and Alibec runs onto it evades a tackle and rounds the keeper before tapping the ball over the line. 3-1 Astra

I was happy at half time a good lead and I expected us to hold onto it as we had played well. As Alibec had picked up a knock I put on Fatai for him.

45 minutes: Fatai gets on the end of a Maranhao cross but his header hits the bar and goes over. Almost a goal seconds after coming on.

48 minutes: We counter after a Red Bull free kick Yahaya gives it to Enache on the wing who has a run then gives the ball back Yahaya sees William in space and plays him in he smashes and unstoppable shot just inside the post. 4-1 Astra game over I hope.

80 minutes: Soriano heads in a long throw to give Red Bull a glimmer of hope. 4-2

84 minutes: Maranhao hit a corner cleared to William who gives the ball back to Maranhao he crosses it in and Fatai wins a near post he flicks in. 5-2 Astra

A good win over a decent team although they have struggled in the Europa League. 5 goals and 5 scorers is always good.View attachment 240126
Alibec had a damaged elbow due to the international break he would only miss one match but, he would miss the chance to make his Romania debut unfortunately after having been called up. Yahaya could also make his Ghana debut after receiving his first call up.

The Romanian Cup draw was made and we will host ASA who we have already knocked out of one cup.

William was getting some well deserved press attention for his great performances that aren't reducing the interest in him.

We traveled to Bucharest to take on Rapid who were in some poor form after a bright start to the season.

Enache scored the rebound of a Pinto free kick after twenty minutes. Chitu ghosted in at the back post to volley home a Reginaldo cross to make it two nil and that was the final score. Lung was forced to make some decent saves though. Enache picked up a small knock but due to the International break won't miss a game. View attachment 240124After the match Yahaya signed a new contract with the club despite interest from abroad. A three and a half year deal. He made his debut for Ghana a few days later.View attachment 240123I got a extra five thousand pounds a week in wage budget that helped with the new conracts.

After the international break we played ASA just before half time they scored their only shot on target. It looked like my first league defeat in charge of Astra until the man the legend that is Alibec got up and won a header in the ninetieth minute flicking the ball into the corner to get a late late equalizer. The dream of 100 points was shattered but we were still undefeated and top of the table.View attachment 240122
 
We hosted Ludogoretsin the Europa League it was likely one of us would go through in second. If we win we are through, if we draw we will need a point in Wolfsburg if Ludogorets beat Salzburg. A loss and we would have to win away to Wolfsburg and they would have to not beat Salzburg.

Budescu finally returned from injury to take the AMC role for this match.

After 36 minutes we won a free kick out wide Budescu stepped up and whipped a great cross in Seto lost his man and volleyed it in at the back post. 1-0 Astra.

38 minutes: There winger makes a great run down the wing cuts into the box by the byline and chipped a cross that Alexandrov headed into the empty net. Our lead did not last long. 1-1

That was it an eventual first half burst to life with a couple of late goal. I changed to 4-4-2 as we had to win a draw was useless to us.

46 minutes Rginaldo gets free to whip in a cross its cleared to Yahaya he sees William in space inside the box right in front of the goal gives it to him and William smashes a shot just under the bar. 2-1 Astra

48 minutes Pinto plays a free kick short to Seto intricate passing gets the ball to Alibec outside the box he tries to play in Fatai but he is tackled the ball falls to Alibec just inside the box and he hits it first time and the keeper stretches to tip his effort wide.

63 minutes Pinto whips in a corner Reginaldo loses out. William heads the ball back into the mixer but every one misses it and the ball floats into the goal. 3-1 could that be the goal that sees us through the group stages?

78 minutes Ludogorets counter Alexandrov has space to shoot but his effort goes well wide.

90+3 Full time the fairy tale continues we are into the Europa League group stages. We will finish second unless we beat Wolfsburg by three goals.View attachment 240060View attachment 240059Looking at the teams leading other groups I don't fancy our chances and that is before you add in the champions league teams. But, I didn't expect us to beat Real Sociedad so who knows?
 
After beating Ludogrets we hosted Viitorul who lie in fifth place in the league.

After 14 minutes their winger made a nice run and knocked in a cross Olinga headed it and somehow the ball got past Lung we were 1-0 down. We responded quickly Reginaldo and Rus combined down the right to hit a cross in that Enache headed in. 1-1 after twent minutes.

From kick off they started a nice move that ended with Ben Youssef tackling their striker when he was in on goal in the box. Somehow he avoided a card at all but the penalty was scored we were 2-1 down.

After 27 minutes Fatai hit the side netting when in on goal. Two minutes later Reginaldo volleyed home a Enache cross to level the game up at two a piece.

After 41 minutes Olinga intercepted Maranhao's header to go in on goal but smacked his effort against the bar. That was the last chance of the half and I changed to two up front at half time.

After a spell of possession Rus hit a deep cross in and Fatai got his head on it and knocked it past the keeper. 3-2 after 53 minutes. Five minutes later they countered after a corner their striker beat Seto before squaring the ball when in on goal for a tap in. 3-3.

Enache went on a great run beating two men before knocking the ball back to Rus who crossed it in. The ball rolled to the edge of the box where William teed up Laban who fired a shot into the top corner. 4-3 Astra after 61 minutes could we hold the lead this time?

No we couldn't after they missed a great chance they attacked again and Enache tripped their right back in the box giving away another penalty that was also scored. 4-4 after 65 minutes. Three minutes later William half volleyed a Rus cross into the bottom corner 5-4 Astra.

Alibec volleyed just over after seventy minutes following great build up play. Then another defensive mistake let their winger in on goal but his effort was going out for a throw in until Maranhao intercepted it.

Maranhao took a deep free kick after 80 minutes they cleared and looked to counter Ben Youssef intercepted a pass that would have seen their striker in on goal and gave the ball to Enache he evaded a tackle ran to the by line and crossed it to William who tapped a volley into a wide open goal. 6-4 and maybe finally game over.

After 91 minutes Olinga smacked home a rebound but he somehow held on for the last two minutes to win 6-5 a record number of goals for the league in a game.View attachment 240035Next up we faced ASA in the cup with a chance for revenge after they ended the 100 point dream. We are by far the best team left in the cup so I will be disappointed if we fail to win the cup.

Reginaldo beat three men in the box before firing past the keeper to give us a one nil lead after twenty five minutes. Fatai grabbed a header five minutes after he came on at half time. ASA scored after 86 minutes to give them hope but Yahaya tapped home the rebound of a Pinto save a minute later to see us through to the next round. William picked up a knock that will rule him out for a week.View attachment 240032
We face the university of Cluj in the semi final of the cup.View attachment 240028

Enache won November player of the month his second award and I added another manager of the month to my collection.

We warmed up for the Wolfsburg match by allowing a dissaponting Cluj team to grab a 90th minute equalizer. Alibec twisted his knee and will miss three weeks.View attachment 240027Despite the dropped points we are well clear at the top of the table.View attachment 240026
 
We were away to Wolfsburg in a match that I felt would be an indicator of how we could expect to do in the knockout rounds. If we won by three goals we would win the group but, it has no benefit as far as i could tell.

13 minutes in Gaman picks up a Wolsburg clearance he plays it to Pinto who knocks it up to Enache he takes a shot that Bengalio knocks behind for a corner. Pinto's corner was cleared but, Rus picked it up and knocked the ball back to Pinto and we are oddly lethal at crosses from cleared corners, however this time Rodriguez cleared the ball... into Budescu's face and the ball was past Bengalio before he realized what had happened. We were up against Wolsburg.

27 minutes Budescu stands over a wide free kick and hits in a great ball Rodriguez can only redirect it to Seto and Bengalio pulls off a great save from his volley. Enache got to the rebound and gave it back to Seto he shot from a tight angle but Bengalio got down well to parry the shot Enache hit the rebound against the post and the ball hit off a coyple of players before falling to Laban unmarked 10 yards out with an open goal and he smashed his shot against the bar and the ball bounced over great chance wasted.

37 minutes Arnold curls a twenty yard free kick into the top corner 1-1

I was pleased at half time and six minutes later I was even happier as Hunt was given a straight red card for a terrible scissor tackle could we take advantage of having the extra man.

54 minutes Reginaldo hits the keeper after good work from Enache and William set him clear.

74 minutes Pinto takes a throw in deep in Wolfsburgs half Enahce heads it back to him and he smacks a cross in William takes a touch before smashing a shot past the keeper and in. 2-1 Astra as the stadium goes silent.

81 minutes Arnold has a good effort tipped wide by Lung.

That was it we had beaten Wolfsburg away a great way to end our inaugural Europa league group stage.
View attachment 240001They also injured Reginaldo late on so he will miss the cup matches against Dinamo and the last league match before the winter break with a fractured arm which is annoying as he had been great for us so far.

We were away to Dinamo in the Romanian Cup. Dinamo scored first but their goal was correctly called bacck for offside. Yahaya scored after a late run into the box let him get on the end of an Enache cross. Fatai doubled the lead but the goal was correctly called back for offside. Fatai wrapped up the win with a 93rd minute goal on the counter. William picked up a late knock a bruised rib that will keep him out for a week. View attachment 240000
We will have the same semi final opposition as in the Romanian League Cup the University of ClujView attachment 239999In our final league match before the winter break we ran riot William playing a key role in Fatai scoring twice in the fist six minutes. William poked home a goal just before half time. Fatai had to go off injured after and hour. Enache scored a rebound and Budescu wrapped the game up with a nice twenty yard shot.View attachment 239998We have about two months off so I will do a half season review and the Europa League draw.
 
The big day of the Europa League draw was upon us from a quick look Athletico, Tottenham and Juventus would be the worst draw with Litex or Plzen being the best in my opinion.

We drew Inter Milan a big team who are currently fifth in the Serie A it is possible we can beat them they aren't doing great but it will be a challenge.View attachment 239945Here is the complete draw for the first round.
View attachment 239942In the second round the teams to avoid are the same with the best tie to me being probably Celtic or Panathaikos really all the draws have one team that could be expected to easily beat us. The winner of our tie will face the winner of the Everton PSV tie so not great draw I think Everton will sneak it but not sure.View attachment 239937
Yahaya and Ben Youssef were called up for the African Cup of Nations.

Messi won player of the year and the Ballon d'or.

Also while looking at free agents I was suprised to see that League 1 teams could offer better wages than I could I saw that Sheffield United have twice my wage budget and then checking League 2 saw Portsmouth have a bigger wage budget than me they aren't even winning League 2.View attachment 239934View attachment 239935I will play a couple of friendlies then we play Cluj in a cup semi final before our tie with Inter Milan.
 
The day contracts could be offered to players I had a few target in mind. Two Eric and a Pandurii striker with a long name had foreign interest that I couldn't compete with. However I managed to grab a decent AMC from Cluj and a right back from a team from Gibraltar called Lynx. I'll show them when they arrive. I then took a massive risk I saw that Steau were linked with a player from Ghana and he seemed good and had been playing well but, i cannot scout outside Europe I made an enquiry and negotiated a deal that would cost around 10k then signed him purely on the basis that Steaua were reported to have interest in him. The risk appears to have paid off he looks decent and is valued at 220k.View attachment 239850I received a decent number of bids for players. I sold Grandin who was on big wages for 99k with clauses. Lorient also decided that despite a 6.3 average rating they wanted to pay 100k for Florescu I happily sold him.

Rejected bids I had an offer from Seoul for over 1 million for Maranhao but, I declined it. I rejected a bid of just over a million for Fatai, I then saw that he had a 2.5 mil release clause so offered him a new contract. He signed a deal worth 100 pounds a week less with no clauses so big win their. I also rejected a bid for Laban from Aberdeen. Portland Timbers wanted to loan Reginaldo but I said no. Philadelphia bid nothing for Budescu who is valued at 2.3 million I said no. Not sure how either of them thought they would be successful. The window is still open so there could still be more deals.

Then a big problem came. The board organised a training camp in Giurgui where we are based with no matches that would cost 3.5k I manually added the first team to ensure that no reserves came and added to the cost but didn't add Yahaya he wasn't pleased and despite apologizing he demanded to leave I refused and the squad backed him. I held a players meeting and thought that I had won them roundView attachment 239848But, they all have a thing saying that they have reacted badly next to them in the squad and have lower morale than they used to. I hoped a first leg win against Cluj would help boost morale.

Fatai scored after 18 minutes a header into the far post from and Enache cross. Gaman got sent of after 62 minutes. They then scored in the 74th minute to equalize the tie. After 83 minutes Seto made a great tackle and played in Fatai his shot was saved but, Enache scored the rebound. Enache scored after Budescu was tackled when in on goal and the ball fell to him. Baffoe grabbed a debut goal late on slamming home a loose ball on the edge of the area we lead 4-1 going into the second leg.View attachment 239847Next up we host Inter Milan in the first leg of the Europa League tie.
 
View attachment 239844Welcome to Gazeta's coverage of the Astra Inter Milan Europa League match. Astra have been a big surprise of the tournament and are the only Romanian team left in Europe. Inter will be without Samir Handanovic for this match.

30 minutes in and the first real chance William whips in a cross and Yahaya heads it the keeper tips it onto the post and the ball bounces on the line. The keeper gets to it a split second before Yahaya.

32 minutes Goal Inter Milan Medel intercepts a pass and plays the ball to Kovacic he knocks it up to Hernanes and he plays Icardi in and he make no mistake Inter have an away goal.

35 minutes Goal AFC Astra A Maranhao corner is cleared to Reginaldo on the edge of teh box he beats and man and takes a pop at goal his shot is deflected and falls to Oros who taps the ball into the net Astra equalize 1-1.

40 minutes Goal AFC Astra what a turn around Astra are beating Inter Milan. A maranhao corner is cleared after a couple of passes Maranhao gets the ball 30 yards out and launches a pile driver the keeper parried it but Reginaldo smacked home the rebound 2-1 Astra as they lead European royalty.

41 minutes Goal Inter Milan they level after the kick off Shaqiri beats his man and crosses it to Icardi who stabs the ball home. 2-2

Half time

48 minutes Goal Inter Milan Juan Jesus heads a corner in 3-2 Milan

Full time all the action happened in 18 action packed minutes.View attachment 239842Astra will have a tough task in Milan and have to score at least twice to have any home. The winner of this match will likely play Everton after they beat PSV 5-1
 
View attachment 239837We are here in Milan to see if Astra can continue their run in the Europa League it will be a tough ask as they let in three away goals in a 3-2 loss in Bucharest.

5th minute A shot by Appiah is well held by Lung

8th minute Maranhao fires a decent free kick over the wall and over the bar

16th minute GOAL AFC Astra Maranhao has a corner cross is cleared as is his second cross Yahaya wins the ball and plays it to William who hits a perfect pass to Budescu and he slams home from close range. 3-3 Milan to go through on away goals.

21st minute Lung holds a twenty yard Hernanes free kick

24th minute Hernanes crosses in free kick cleared William and Rus combine down the right on the break but Alibec loses out. Astra win it back William gives the ball to Budescu who passes the ball to Alibec and he turns his man on the edge of the box before firing a shot into the top corner what a goal and Alibec celebrates against his former club. Astra lead 4-3 on aggregate the San Siro has shocked into silence.

33 minutes Inter have a third player booked Astra have dominated the match so far here are the statisticsView attachment 239836 Astra have a free kick just in their half Maranhao receives it and loses the ball Inter counter Appiah plays in Kuzmanovic his shot is well held by Lung a great chance for Inter their.

Half time Astra lead and Inter have 5 players on bookings they have to be careful or they could go down to ten men.

45 minutes from kick off Enache gets the ball and goes on a run his cross is cleared and the ball goes over BEn Youssefs head Icardi is in on goal but, Ben Youssef recovers and makes a great tackle just as Icardi was about to shoot to knock the ball out for a corner ha had to get that right.

48 minutes D'Ambroso is booked and has been accused of tripping William who may have dived but D'Ambroso is on a final warning

60 minutes Laban replaces Budescu

68 minutes Inter with a throw in in Astras half Yahaya intercepts it and looks to start a counter and plays the ball up to William his passed aimed at Alibec is intercepted by Juan Jesus he passes to Guarin who gives the ball to Dodo who plays it to Gurain who plays a great ball and Appu=iah was in there but his touch let him down and he is forced wide. He crosses it an and Kovacic knocks it down for Hernanes who smacked a shot in 4-4 Inter lead on away goals. Reginaldo replaced Seto as Astra push for another goal.

70 minutes Rus with a throw in deep in Inter's half it goes to Alibec who knocks it back to William who hits an unsaveable shot into the top corner. Astra lead 5-4 on aggregate and have equaled Inter's three away goals.

San Siro is silenced again by the Romanian underdogs

80 Inter with a throw in just in Astra's half Rus slams away Hernanes attempted pass to Icardi. Astra play the ball back to Lung after Alibec won that header Lung hits it long to Yahaya. Kovacic intercepts his attempt to play in Alibec Laban tackles Kovacic and the ball rolls to Ben Youssef who loses it to Appiah. Appiah plays in Icardi Oros gets back to make a great tackle but the ball rolls on to Guarin Lung makes a great save to preserve the lead. What a chance for Inter.

83 minutes Hadanovic takes a goal kick long somehow Icardi is played in but is wide his shot goes past Lung but misses the far post another chance for Inter.

90 minutes three minutes of Added time can Astra hold on.

93 minutes Last chance Inter corner everyone is up they need a goal Yahaya heads it clear and Alibec is first to the header and heads for the corner he doesn't get their as the final whistle goes.

Inter 1 (4) Astra 3 (5) what a come back by Astra two great goals great defending and great saves what a job Cherno Samba is doing with Astra. Inter maybe didn't start their best players thinking the tie was over and they paid the price. They were less clinical with three clear cut chances while Astra had none.

PSV won 4-2 but that is not enough Astra will face Everton for a spot in the quarter finals.View attachment 239835View attachment 239834
 
After the Inter match we had three league games in a week before we played Everton.

We hosted Dinamo Bucharest and Gaman headed us into the lead after twelve minutes from a Maranhao corner. After Rus beat two men his shot slammed into the post Reginaldo poked the rebound in to double our lead. Rotariu knocked in a loose ball after a goal mouth scramble to make it 2-1 after thirty one minutes. Alibec hit the post and scored a goal that was chalked off for offside. Lung didn't have much work to do as we won 2-1.View attachment 239610We then faced Brazov in midweek they grabbed an early goal after we had wasted some early chances Budescu equalized with a penalty but we could not score even when they went down to ten men two points dropped.View attachment 239609Craiova was next and Alibec scored a nice volley from a cross just after half time and Reginaldo hit a good shot as we deservedly won 2-0.View attachment 239607The Columbus Crew bid nothing for William and out of interest I asked for a pound and they pulled out of negotiations. Aibec wants to leave for Gothenburg to play in the Champions League but I promised him that we would make it so he is willing to save. But, a bid did get close to a release clause that I am sure I never out in his contract of 1.4 million so I'm not sure if I didn't notice or contracts in Romania come with buy out clauses in them.

Next we travel to Everton for the first leg of the Europa League tie.
 
Another tough European test I decided to go with a 4-1-2-2-1 wide on the counter to try and keep the tie alive for the tie in Romania. Oddly the Guardian have us as the favourites to win but the bookies do not. View attachment 239600I would take a draw for sure preferably with goals but we shall see.

3 Minutes in Stones tackles Fatai to start a counter Lukaku get down the wing but no Everton players are in the box he cuts it back to Barkley and Lung tips his effort up and it bounces twice on the bar and goes behind for a corner. Stones header from it is held by Lung.

30 minutes Maranhao with a throw in just inside Everton's half Hibbert clears the ball but Maranhao gets it and knock the ball to Laban and gets it back and whips in a cross that is cleared. Everton pass the ball p the field but Mirallas is tackled by Seto. He knock it out to Reginaldo who plays it up to Fatai and Jagielka's tackle appears to have injured him. But, the ball falls to Reginaldo and he whips in a cross William the only Astra player in the box gets it wide and Hibbert takes him down.

Victor Kassi points to the spot. Seto will have to wait to take the penalty as Fatai is treated and Alibec comes on for him.

Seto steps up and smashes his penalty high up the middle while Howard dove to his right. 1-0 Astra can we pull off another shock.

39 minutes Everton has a corner Baines whips it in and Barkley pokes it home at the near post to equalize. Not happy to let them score a set piece. 1-1

40 minutes Everton have a throw deep in our half Mirallas knock the ball to Lukaku and he scores 2-1 Everton.

Half time

60 minutes Khrohn Deli crosses it in Lukaku sqaures in to Mirallas who slams it into and empty goal but Lung gets across to somehow tip the ball onto the post and grabs the rebound what a save.

75 minutes Astra change to a 4-2-3-1 as they try and equalize. Enache and Budescu come on for Astra

77 minutes Lung again the hero for Astra clawing out a volley from six yards from Naismith two great saves from him.

84 minutes Gaman puts in a great slide tackle on Naismith. Willaim gets the ball and plays it up to Budescu he plays it back to Rus he knocks it up to Enache he beats Baines and crosses it in Budescu gets to it and knocks it goalward Howard saves but the rebound goes to Alibec and he scores this time Astra equalize late on. Can they hold on? 2-2 and Astra have two away goals.

87 minutes Seto slams into Naismith he is on a booking and is sent off Astra down to ten men late on.

Full time Everton will be disappointed to have let in a late equalizer and will need a good result in Romania.

We had three shots on target the two goals and the shot that Alibec scored the rebound from.View attachment 239581
A big win for Astra and they have a decent chance of continuing their fairy tale run but, they will need a good a good performance in Romania to add to this one.

Here are the results from the other matches View attachment 239578
 
I expected us to comfortably beat 17th placed Botosani two second half goals would have likely done it but, Yahaya got a straight red and that allowed them back into the match as we dropped two points. Fortunately Steaua also drew so we stayed six points clear at the top of the table. View attachment 239534Then it was youth intake day my first one I hoped for some decent players and here is an overview View attachment 239533 They are all terrible the coaches said that none could even be squad players and I agree they aren't good enough for what we are planning I may have to buy some young players from other teams as I want to keep a Romanian core at the team.

As a result of the poor youth intake I asked the board for better youth facilities and they agreed after some persuasionView attachment 239529

We host Everton in two days so I forgot about the intake and focused on that
 
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As Astra host Everton in the second leg of the Europa League tie both teams appear to be playing with defensive formations.

15 minutes. Rus plays a one two with Enache and has acres of space to fire in a cross William smacked a volley back across goal that Howard could do nothing to stop. Astra lead 3-2 om aggregate but, the goal is irrelevant Astra are still winning but one goal will see Everton through.

18 minutes. Lennon has space to cross but it is cleared. Lennon had a cross blocked and it falls to Coleman he crosses it to Lukaku his shot is blocked and Lung parries Lennon's rebound attempt out for a corner. Which is cleared.

20 minutes. Rus flicks a ball up to Enache who has space to cross but he hits an Everton defender. We win the clearance and continue to press but it comes to nothing.

Half time and remarkably Astra have extended their league. Alibec replaces a tired looking Fatai

50 minutes Stones heads a clearance to Laban at the half way line and he plays it up to Alibec. He manages to keep the ball and drops it back to Yahaya he sprays it wide to Maranhao. He whips a great ball in and Aibec wins the race to the far post to knock it in from a yard. 2-0 Astra they will be disappointed if they don't get through now.

68 minutes. Baines tosses a long throw to Krohn Delhi who is unmarked twemty yards out. His shot smacks the post and hits Lung's back but rolls just wide for a corner Astra had luck in their side their.

85 minutes. Reginaldo goes on for William to waste time. Everton need two goals to force extra time.

Astra are through to the Europa League quarter final's after causing let another upset surely they cannot cause another. They have gone through 4-2 winners on aggregate against fancied Everton.View attachment 239505Here are the results from the other matches Celtic caused an upset against Wolfsburg. They would probably be the best draw for Astra also Sparta Prague went out on away goals against Lille after doing well to make it this far.
View attachment 239504

The quarter final draw was made the next day and we had the second best team for us to play View attachment 239491Lille if we somehow got through another tie then we would face the impossibleView attachment 239490The winner of a tie between Atletico and Juventus. If we beat Lille the best we can hope for is a single figure loss on aggregate I would say but, we will need lady luck to again shine on us if we want to get past Lille.
 
Disclaimer89 said:
Nice win over Everton!! They are a tough team!

Alibec is a beast :D
Click to expand...
Thanks it was very nervy. Yeah Alibec is good especially in big matches but has a tiny release clause and won't sign a new contract as he wants champions league football so will need to wait and see if he will stay unfortunately
 
The frustrations of management a team that beats Inter Milan and Everton cannot beat teams of a far lower quality. I think that the lead that we somehow still hold in the league is leading to complacency and costing us cheap points that could really come back to haunt us.

First up we played Gaz Matan in the league a mistake allowed Llullaku to score after 30 minutes. We looked set to lose our first league game but, Fatai got the ball 30 yards out beat a man and fired a shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards in what would be goal of the month to grab us a late goal. the game ended 1-1. I was pleased with the point given the circumstances but expected three.View attachment 239432
We then faced University of Cluj in the Romanian Cup Semi Final. We showed our class Enache stabbed home a close range finish to give us the lead. William volleyed home a loose ball from a corner to double oue lead before half time. Alibec scored another goal before half time half volleying a finish into the bottom corner. 3-0 up at half time. Alibec scored another just after half time heading in from a Gorupec cross on his debut. Yahaya evaded a tackle on the edge of the box and then hammered a shot into the top corner to make it five.

View attachment 239430We then faced University of Cluj in the Romanian League Cup Semi Final where we had a 4-1 lead from our home win before the Inter game. After eleven minutes Cluj countered and pulled a goal back. Alibec scored a header five minutes later from a William cross. Cluj scored from a corner in the second half to win the match but, we won the tie. This will be the club's first Romanian League Cup final. The loss was slightly easier to swallow as we had some key players on international duty.View attachment 239429
We will be playing Caehlaul in the final.

Gabriel Enache was injured on Romania duty and will miss 5-6 weeks but he did get his first goal for Romania in the game.

Celio Santos left to go to Icasa for 6.25k.

I have had a bid of over 2 million pounds from Ulsan for Junior Maranhao I refused as I only have two left backs and cannot get a new one so would be overly reliant on Pinto
 
After getting to the final we hosted Chiajna. They scored after 9 minutes when Gaman decided to head a ball to their striker instead of letting it go out for a throw, the stirker would have been offside if it was a team mate. Lung was beaten and we were a goal down. We then struggled to create anything and missed what we created. My first league loss with Astra ending a 22 league matches unbeaten run. View attachment 239246Then we played the University of Cluj again this time in the league. Reginaldo half volleyed home a cross to give us the lead after 17 minutes. Cluj equalized five minutes later from a corner to make it 1-1. Fatai scored ten minutes after coming on as a sub at half time firing a low shot into the bottom corner from just inside the box to give us the lead again. Budescu wrapped up the points with a great free kick after 62 minutes Cluj had a couple of late chances but couldn't score them due to lung.View attachment 239245We hosted ASA and got off to a great chance with Budescu scoring a penalty after two minutes. It was our only chance of the first half. Mendy scored a nice header to send the teams in at the break at 1-1. Laban headed home the winner from a corner after 55 minutes to give us three points. Despite playing poorly but winning when playing poorly is the sign of a champion.View attachment 239244Then we played Cluj, for the fourth time in our last six games, in the second leg of the Romanian cup semi final. I picked a slightly rotated side as we had a 5-0 lead on aggregate. After no goals in the first half we exchanged goals from corners Alibec won us the game when he scored when in on goal. A two one win. Just as in the Romanian League Cup we will be playing Ceahlaul in the final. It is also our final match against the University of Cluj this year.View attachment 239243We traveled Otelul and gave up a goal from a twenty yard free kick in the first half. We equalized in the 72nd minute when the rebound of a Maranhao free kick hit him and went in. We couldn't get the win and dropped another two points to a team that we should have beaten.View attachment 239242Fortunately all of our title rivals have also been struggling and haven't been able to capitalise on our poor form as we maintain six point lead on Pandurii with a game in hand and nine points on Steaua.View attachment 239241William wants to leave to join Internacional ut will stay if we make the Champions League.

Yahaya has said that he is happy to stay and that has bolstered the morale of the squad which will hopefully help against Lille.

The board also agreed to upgrade our training facilities over the summer along with the youth facilities
 
Unlucky on the first loss of the season! Was close to being unbeaten.
 
The Lille AFC Astra match is being played the Wednesday after all of the other games for those of you who missed those scores here they are Tottenham beat Fiorentina 3-0 at home Juventus won 3-2 away from home against Atletico, the winner of that tie will play the winner of this tie, and Lyon beat Celtic 4-0 at home.

Sp far in the knock out rounds Astra have knocked out Inter Milan and Everton. Lille have had two easier draws as they knocked out Viktoria Plzen and required away goals to knock out Sparta Prague. Lille are currently eighth in Ligue 1 and have 1 win draw and loss in their last three games. AFC Astra currently lead the Romanian Liga 1 and have won two and drawn one of their last three games.

Gabriel Enache is the only player who will miss out through injury.

No line ups forgot to screen shot them.

2 minutes Lille counter and Roux plays the ball to Balmont to tap into an empty net and he does Lille lead 1-0

14 minutes Lille have a corner whipped in Balmont heads it Lung parries and Roux scores the rebound 2-0 Lille as they take control of the tie.

21 minutes Mavumba heads a corner onto the post and it goes in 3-0 Lille

39 minutes Lung holds on to a wicked twenty yard free kick from Marvin Martin.

Half Time Astra are down three goals

52 minutes Beria hits the bar with a cross not sure if Lung had it covered Ben Youssef hooks the ball away for Astra

70 minutes Lung denies Martin when he was in on goal.

75 minutes Roux fires just wide of goal from outside the box.

82 minutes Budescu with a free kick on the edge of the D smacks it into the top corner to give Astra a chance in the tie still a vital away goal

Full time Lille lead 3-1 after a convincing win in their home leg the late Astra goal being the only blip on a good performance View attachment 239166
 
Disclaimer89 said:
Unlucky on the first loss of the season! Was close to being unbeaten.
Click to expand...
Close but no cigar it was coming in truth we had scored a couple of late equalizer's and seemed unable to recapture our European form in the league they have reacted well to it though
 
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