Marked for Daniel Tanase
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Nov 2026
Petrolul are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 26 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.36 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Ovidiu Man yet — 7.81
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Petrolul right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Adrià Vilanova was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Adrian Chiriches falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match31 Oct 2026
Three points for Petrolul, 3‑1 the final word against CFR Cluj in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Valentin Creţu
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match31 Oct 2026
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A brace, and Florin Mitrita takes the afternoon — 8.95
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Florin Mitrita provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Andrei Marin, 33, rolls back the years — 8.32
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.32 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
Florin Mitrita among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Florin Mitrita on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Petrolul and Viitorul.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Petrolul, 4‑2 the final word against Viitorul in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrian Chiriches is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juraj Badelj, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Petrolul
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Age has not caught Andrei Marin yet — 7.94
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Florin Mitrita was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Petrolul and Astra, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match17 Oct 2026
Three points for Petrolul, 4‑2 the final word against Astra in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Halil Bağcı is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Nicusor Iancu
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Daniel Tanase at his very best
Marked 8.44. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Petrolul.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Oct 2026
Petrolul refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 17 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Pandurii spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Florin Mitrita was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Petrolul, 3‑2 the final word against Pandurii in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Razvan Coman and Petrolul agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Adrian Chiriches falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Razvan Coman, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Razvan Coman is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bogdan Vătăjelu dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Match26 Sep 2026
It needed Daniel Tanase to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Botosani, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bogdan Vătăjelu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Adrian Chiriches falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Daniel Tanase was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Mihai Tanase at his very best
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Petrolul.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Adrian Chiriches dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 47. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Adrian Puscas
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrolul lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 Sep 2026
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Adrian Chiriches decided nobody was going anywhere. Universitatea Craiova had no time left to answer.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Petrolul — 7.56
1 for Adrian Chiriches, marked 7.56, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Sep 2026
Add another name to the list: Botosani have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Razvan Coman. The answer from Petrolul has not changed — yet.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrian Chiriches is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Petrolul game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Bucharest runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Adrian Puscas
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Petrolul lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The match ball belongs to Daniel Tanase, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match7 Sep 2026
Petrolul refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 9 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Andrei Marin, 33, rolls back the years — 7.89
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Valentin Creţu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Daniel Tanase’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Petrolul.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market24 Aug 2026
Petrolul say no — this time
The offer from FCSB for George Puscas was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Petrolul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Florin Mitrita was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market24 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Petrolul will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Adrian Chiriches falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrei Marin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A mark of 7.97, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A brace, and Florin Mitrita takes the afternoon — 8.74
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Florin Mitrita provided it, and the 8.74 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Tanase and Petrolul agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Petrolul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Florin Mitrita. 3‑2 against FCSB, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Petrolul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrian Chiriches is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Daniel Tanase asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.