Capital clubs set up showdown

FC Dinamo Bucuresti beat their local rivals FC Steaua Bucuresti 3-1 in the Romanian Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday to reach the final for the 18th time, where they will play FC Rapid Bucuresti. Dinamo, the holders, did the hard work in the first leg winning 1-0 at Steaua and won the tie 4-1 on aggregate.

Raducanu opened the scoring
It was Steaua, however, who took the lead in the 14th minute when Claudiu Raducanu, who looked offside, was put through to score. Steaua should have added to the goal in the first half and taken the aggregate lead but missed three golden opportunities. They also had a penalty appeal turned down when Dinamo's defender Ovidiu Talvan, looked to have handled the ball in the area in the 38th minute.

Different story
It was a completely different story in the second half, however, as Dinamo found their form. Prior to the match, Dinamo has reinstated in a coaching role alongside Ion Marin their general manager, Cornel Dinu, who led the team to cup success last season.

Lacklustre defence
Claudiu Niculescu, who scored the goal in the first leg, equalised with an excellent strike in the 48th minute before Claudiu Dragan made it 2-1 in the 59th minute with another powerful shot. In the 82nd minute, Vlad Munteanu completed the scoring but such was the lacklustre performance of the Steaua defence Dinamo could have had three more.

Steaua out of Europe
Steaua's elimination closes their last remaining route to the UEFA Cup because of their mid-table finish, while Dinamo have already qualified courtesy of finishing second in the league.

Away goals
In the second FRF Cup semi-final played today, Rapid qualified for the final on away goals after a goalless draw at home against SC Astra Ploiesti. The first leg was drawn 2-2 at Astra. Both teams had some good opportunities to score, but neither team took any of them.

Final showdown
The final will take place on 5 June in Bucharest.