The Astra Chronicle
Squad6 Oct 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mihai Burca
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Astra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match4 Oct 2031
Cruel end for Viitorul as Astra pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Astra scored in the 96th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad6 Oct 2031
3 goals for Ciprian Balasa
The match ball belongs to Ciprian Balasa, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
Ianis Tanase, 34, rolls back the years — 8.29
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.29 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Razvan Mitrita signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Razvan Mitrita commits to Astra for another 4 years.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Ciprian Balasa is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.30 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match4 Oct 2031
Astra see off Viitorul
Three points for Astra, 4‑3 the final word against Viitorul in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
One of those days for Ciprian Balasa
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.77, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
Razvan Mitrita was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
- Player ratings The pass was always on for Vlad Nedelcearu
- Market Dragos Mitrita leaves for nothing
- The terraces The stand has a song for Ianis Tanase