With six rounds to go before the end of the Super League season, how long will Zimbru and Sheriff let Petrocub go? // Photo: fc-sheriff.com .
With each round it becomes more obvious that Orhei “Milsami” is not able to defend the title of Moldovan champions, won last year under the leadership of Igor Picuschak.
Benefit of the season’s top scorer
The score in the derby of both banks of the Dniester was opened in the 5th minute. After an infringement in the Bison penalty area, referee Andrei Cojocaru pointed to the 11-meter mark. Zimbru’s top scorer in the Super League 2025/26, Belarusian international Denis Kozlovski unerringly converted the penalty to give his club a 1-0 lead. Nigerian Peter Ademo restored parity in the score by scoring in the 32nd minute. The teams went into the break with equal chances to win.
At the start of the second half, Kozlowski again distinguished himself for the hosts, scoring his 15th goal of the season. He leads the league scorers’ table by a large margin, while Petru Popescu from Petrocub, who is second, has four goals less. The final score (2:2) was set in the 55th minute after the Brazilian legionnaire of “Sheriff” Ze Flores hit the goal of Artyom Odintsov.
After the match, the difference of one point between the clubs remained (see the standings), and in the remaining six rounds will play out a heated battle for the trophy. In the next round on April 11, Zimbru will have a difficult trip to Hincesti for a match with Petrocub, while Sheriff will host Milsami in Tiraspol, which won only one match out of four in the second phase.
“Bisons” are stronger than “Wasps” this season
For the first time in a long time, “Sheriff” did not have a single victory over “Zimbru” in the championship. Moreover, in all three face-to-face meetings held in the first phase, the capital club won. Moreover, last August, the Bisons won their first victory over a principal rival in Tiraspol in 17 years. “Sheriff” has the last chance to mitigate the negative balance in the derby – the teams will meet on May 10 on the field of “Os” within the penultimate round of the second phase of the Super League.
Zimbru head coach Oleg Kubarev had this meeting in mind when he said at the post-match press conference that “in the middle of May it will be known whether we won one point or lost two”. The Belarusian specialist also noted that every game is crucial, crucial, given the proximity of the end of the season – the final round will be held on May 17.
Assistant head coach of Sheriff Igor Korneenkov, in turn, expressed optimism about the final stretch of the season. “We did not consider the past games with this opponent as an indicator at all… There are enough matches ahead, and I think that the fight will last until the very last of them. We are a bit upset that we did not ‘pull out’ this game, but nothing is lost,” said a representative of the Tiraspol coaching staff.
Question of preparation
Korneenkov also touched upon the issue of preparation for the second phase of the championship, which Sheriff, unlike other Super League teams, spent not abroad, but at its own training base in Tiraspol. “It was a sin not to take advantage of the conditions we have. We have a good pitch at a great temperature, without rain and snow. We tried to do the work we had planned,” Korneenkov shared the results of the training conducted in the indoor arena of the Sheriff complex. Only Tiraspol club has such a facility among the participants of the Moldovan championship.
The preparation of “Wasps”, unexpectedly for everyone two years in a row left without the championship trophy, really justifies itself. In four matches after the start of the decisive segment of the Super League, Sheriff won three times, including over Petrocub, and drew one match. This is the best indicator among the participants of the championship. “Petrocub also won three times, but suffered a defeat in the match against Tiraspol. The Zimbru club, for its part, won twice and drew twice.
Not reaching the “big three”
The reigning Moldovan champion Milsami is six points behind third-place Sheriff and nine points behind the top of the standings. The Orhei club actually lost the chance to defend the title and, apparently, focused on preserving the fourth position, which will allow them to play in European competitions next season. We may be talking about the Conference League (CL), the third most important tournament, but for the Red Eagles it is critically important to get into the European Cup zone, which allows them to earn from €325 thousand (€175 thousand from UEFA for getting into the first round of the CL and €150 thousand if the club is eliminated in the first round – author’s note), or about 40% of the annual budget. Getting to the second round will earn an additional €175 thousand, and for the departure, as in the previous round, there is a compensation payment of €150 thousand. Thus, participation in the two rounds of the LC (€ 650 thousand) will almost 80% cover the annual budget of “Milsami”, in 2024 amounted to about € 850 thousand.
In the remaining six matches, it is important for the Milsami club to defeat CSF Bălți and Dacia-Buiucani, ranked fifth and sixth respectively. In the 4th round, Orhei players defeated Dacia-Buiucani with a 1-0 victory. As the head coach of “Milsami” Vladimir Gudev put it after the match, the team “grinded out” a goal. Its author was the Malian legionnaire of the Siberian club Keita.
When the coaching staff publicly admits how hard the victory over a club that does not claim to be the leaders in the championship, it becomes obvious that the goal is to maintain the status quo (“Milsami” took fourth place in the first phase – author’s note), and not to “storm” the top.
|
Super League 2025/26 standings |
|||||||
|
Place |
Club | P | W | D | L | G |
Pts* |
|
1** |
“Petrocub” |
4 |
3 | 0 | 1 | 7-1 |
24 |
|
2 |
“Zimbru” |
4 |
2 | 2 | 0 | 7-4 |
22 |
|
3 |
“Sheriff” |
4 |
3 | 1 | 0 | 6-2 |
21 |
|
4 |
“Milsami” |
4 |
1 | 2 | 1 | 1-2 |
15 |
|
5 |
CSF Bălți |
4 |
0 | 1 | 3 | 0-5 |
9 |
|
6 |
“Dacia-Buiucani” |
4 |
0 | 0 | 4 | 2-9 |
1 |
| * According to the results of the first phase of the Super League, the clubs received points added to those earned in the second phase: “Petrocub” – 15 points, “Zimbru” – 14, “Sheriff” – 11, “Milsami” – 10, CSF Bălți – 8, “Dacia-Buiucani” – 1.
** The clubs that took the first four places at the end of the second phase of the Super League will play in the next season of European competitions: winners – in the Champions League (from the first round), silver medalists – in the Europa League (from the first round), bronze medalists – in the Conference League (from the second round), fourth place – in the Conference League (from the first round). |
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