Thirty-four years. That is how long Corvinul Hunedoara have been waiting for a night like Monday.
They got one. A 3-0 win over Csikszereda Miercurea Ciuc in the opening round of the Romanian Superliga, played not at their own ground — which is being redeveloped — but at the Francisc von Neuman stadium in Arad. Andrej Fabry from the penalty spot. Daniel Pîrvulescu with a spectacular volley. Sergio Ribeiro with a free kick that deserved to open any season. Three goals in eight minutes in the second half. Dream return.
The last time Corvinul played in Romania’s top division was 1992. Most of the players in that squad on Monday night were not born yet. The club went from the third tier to the Superliga under the same manager — Florin Maxim, who took over in July 2021 and is now officially the longest-serving active head coach in the division. That tells you something about what has been built here. Stability. A clear idea. A squad that knows what it is doing and why.
Csikszereda arrived as a decent opponent, not a pushover. They had surprised people in the Superliga last season — only two defeats in their final twelve matches, seven wins and three draws in that run. Eduard Pap, their coach who left after the season, had built something solid. But Pap is gone now, replaced by Istvan Szabo, a Hungarian coach making his debut in Romanian football on Monday evening. The 51st foreign manager to take a top-flight job in Romania since the revolution. Baptism of fire does not begin to cover it.
The first half gave very little away. Corvinul were the better side — more purposeful, sharper in their pressing, the home crowd at Arad behind them — but the chances were few. Pîrvulescu hit the bar from outside the box at some point, a reminder of the technical quality this side carries. Csikszereda had a moment where Trif got into the box and forced Sandu into a save. Neither goalkeeper was truly troubled. Halftime came and went. Still 0-0. The occasion had been there, the football had been fine, but the goals had not come.
Then everything happened at once.
Fifty-seventh minute. Yeboah drove into the penalty area and went down under a challenge. Penalty given. Fabry stepped up — the Slovak midfielder who spent time at UTA Arad and Universitatea Cluj before arriving at Corvinul, a man who knows this league — and converted. 1-0. Corvinul’s first Superliga goal in thirty-four years. The stadium at Arad felt the weight of that.
Five minutes later, Pîrvulescu. The goal of the match, honestly the goal of the opening round of the Superliga. A volley from inside the box — the ball arrived at the right height, at the right moment, and Pîrvulescu hit it with the kind of technique you do not coach, you either have it or you do not. Clean. Powerful. Exactly into the corner. 2-0. The bench went.
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Three minutes after that, Ribeiro. Free kick, a good position, and the Brazilian midfielder curled it over the wall and into the net. Three goals in eight minutes. The match was over. Done. Three points on the first day of the season.
Csikszereda had nothing after the first goal. When teams concede and then concede again within minutes, the shape goes and the confidence goes with it. Szabo’s side — already dealing with the difficulty of a new coach, a new season, a squad that lost momentum somewhere in the summer — could not find a way back in. Csuros had an effort late on that went wide. That was about it.
Corvinul made substitutions as the game wound down. Espinosa came on for Gillard, then Ronaldo Deaconu for Fabry, then Goodlad and Abualnadi for Ribeiro and Manolache. The squad depth that Maxim has assembled across this summer — Yeboah, Fabry, Abualnadi, Ribeiro — looked meaningful on the night. This is not a side that scraped promotion and got lucky. They won Liga 2 last season. They know what they are about.
Five of the starters on Monday were from Hunedoara county. That detail matters for a club like this. Local identity, local pride, players who understand what it means to represent the black and blue in a county that has been waiting thirty-four years for top-flight football to come back. The crowd in Arad — not their home, circumstances forcing them to play there — still made itself heard. When Fabry scored that penalty, when Pîrvulescu scored that volley, the noise was the kind that comes from people releasing something that has been held for a very long time.
Corvinul won the Romanian Cup in 2024 under Maxim. They sacrificed league position to participate in European competition and took the experience seriously. They came back down to Liga 2 and won it. Now they are here. The Superliga. Round one. Three goals, three points, a clean sheet, and a statement that this return after thirty-four years is not going to be timid.
The full Romanian Superliga table, fixtures, and match results are at the official Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal website at lpf.ro.
Full-time: Corvinul Hunedoara 3-0 Csikszereda Miercurea Ciuc. Goals: Andrej Fabry 57′ pen, Daniel Pîrvulescu 62′, Sergio Ribeiro 65′. Francisc von Neuman Stadium, Arad. Romanian Superliga Round 1, 20 July 2026. Corvinul coach: Florin Maxim. Csikszereda coach: Istvan Szabo. Corvinul’s first Superliga match in 34 years.
