No mercy for Romanian minnows

It was a bad day for the underdogs as the big clubs triumphed in the first legs of the Romanian Cup quarter-finals.

Big winners
FC National Bucuresti and FC Arges Pitesti were the biggest winners of the day, but Astra Ploiesti also picked up a win on their travels while FC Dinamo Bucuresti earned a narrow victory to set up a tense second leg for 2 April.

Short work
National made short work of second division CFR Ecomax Cluj, winning 4-0 at home against a side which had accounted for Romanian First Division teams CF Gloria Bistrita 1922 and FC Sportul Studentesc.

Serious business
National coach Walter Zenga insisted that his players took the match seriously, and they took the initiative, opening up a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes. Sorin Iodi opened the scoring in the first minute, a Vasile Vasiie own goal after 14 minutes made it 2-0 and Gigel Coman's strike five minutes later kept the pot boiling. Robert Ghindeanu scored nine minutes from time to complete the rout.

Arges irresistible
Draw specialists FCM Bacau met their match at Arges as the home side took their guests apart, despite the absence of striker Constantin Barbu who had left training following an argument with coach Ion Moldovan.

Bilasco hat-trick
In Barbu's absence, Marius Bilasco scored a hat-trick and Ion Vladoiu and Adrian Iordache were also on target in a 5-1 success. A first-half effort from Cristian Ciocoiu proved scant consolation for Bacau.

Good work
Astra can also be pleased with their evening's work after they earned a 2-1 win at second division FC Politehnica Iasi. Dinu Todoran scored twice either side of a Marius Pacurar equaliser for Politehnica to give the first division side the advantage.

Upper hand
Dinamo hold the upper hand ahead of the second leg of their tie against FC Farul Constanta after scraping a 1-0 win in the away leg. Vlad Munteanu's 12th-minute free-kick was deflected into the goal by a combination of Farul goalkeeper George Curca and the central defender Ion Barbu.

Bad debut
However, it was not such a happy afternoon for Dinamo's new Senegalese signing Pape Seydou Diop who was dismissed for a second yellow card after just 26 minutes of his debut.