The Petrolul Courier
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Petrolul
Ciprian 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Heriberto Tavares runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Sep 2026
Petrolul come up short against Dinamo Bucharest
Dinamo Bucharest left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Ciprian Mitrita
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ciprian Mitrita, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A masterclass from George Tanase
Marked 8.44 — 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The month belongs to George Tanase
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Petrolul have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I want to play”: Alexandru Iamandache speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Ciprian Mitrita leaves them behind him
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
In brief
- Player ratings Off the pace: Andreas Ivan
- Market Petrolul shop where it costs nothing
- Market Petrolul bring in Stefan Tanase on loan