Romania secure their first victory against Latvia

Romania secured their first victory in UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 9 thanks to goals against Latvia either side of the break from Nicolae Stanciu and George Ţucudean.

Stanciu latched onto Gheorghe Grozav's pass to open the scoring six minutes before half-time and the hosts doubled their lead on 52 minutes when Ţucudean lifted the ball over the onrushing Kristaps Dzelme superbly.

After drawing their opening two qualifiers against Kazakhstan, Romania seemed determined to make their mark against Latvia. They did just that on 39 minutes as Grozav found Stanciu in space to give the hosts the lead. Paul Anton almost extended the advantage in first-half added time but his long-range effort came back off the bar.

Emil Săndoi's side grabbed a second when Gabriel Enache flicked goalkeeper Dinu Moldovan's long ball into the path of Ţucudean and the FC Dinamo Bucureşti forward showed his class with a fine lob over Dzelme. Latvia's Alans Siņeļņikovs came close to getting his side back into the match only for his effort to come back off the frame of the goal 15 minutes from time. Both sides are back in action on 11 October when Romania host France and Latvia entertain Slovakia.