Dinamo thrashes Romanian champions Craiova 5-1 after fiery first half

Dinamo Bucharest secured a dominant 5-1 victory over Romanian champions Universitatea Craiova in a Superliga clash. The match, held on Saturday evening, pitted two teams coming off unfavorable results against each other. Dinamo had lost their opening match 0-1 to Petrolul Ploiești, while Craiova was recently defeated 0-1 by Levski Sofia in a European competition qualifier.

The home team established a strong lead in the first half. Alberto Soro opened the scoring in the 8th minute, capitalizing on a corner. Universitatea Craiova had opportunities to equalize, but missed chances. Dinamo extended their lead in the 29th minute when Danny Armstrong capitalized on a defensive error, setting up Alexandru Musi for an easy finish. Musi had another goal disallowed for handball before halftime.

In first-half stoppage time, Dinamo's forward was fouled by Badelj as he broke towards goal. The referee initially awarded a penalty, but after a VAR review, the decision was overturned to a foul outside the box, resulting in a direct red card for Badelj and no penalty. Craiova entered the second half trailing 2-0 and a player down.

Despite being a man down, Universitatea Craiova showed signs of a comeback early in the second half, with Nsimba scoring in the 50th minute to make it 2-1. However, Dinamo quickly reasserted their dominance. Alexandru Pop restored the two-goal advantage in the 63rd minute. A penalty awarded for a handball by Carlos Mora in the 78th minute was converted by Cătălin Cîrjan, making it 4-1. In stoppage time, defender Martin Pascual sealed the emphatic victory with a header, setting the final score at 5-1.