2016–17 Moldovan National Division

The 2016–17 Moldovan National Division (Romanian: Divizia Națională) is the 26th season of top-tier football in Moldova. The competition began on 23 July 2016 and ended in May 2017.

Moldovan National Division

Season	2016–17
Matches played	165
Goals scored	422 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ricardinho (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Sheriff 7–0 Ungheni (6 August 2016)
Biggest away win	Academia 0–4 Milsami (20 August 2016)
Highest scoring	Sheriff 7–0 Ungheni (6 August 2016)
Longest winning run	Sheriff Zimbru (4 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Sheriff Zimbru Petrocub Zaria (4 games)
Longest winless run	Academia (4 games)
Longest losing run	Ungheni (5 games)
Highest attendance	Sheriff 3-0 Zimbru 2,300
Lowest attendance	Academia 0-2 Zimbru Dacia 2-0 Academia Dinamo-Auto 1-3 Zaria 200
Average attendance	998
← 2015–16 2017 → All statistics correct as of 24 August 2016.

Stadia and locations

Chișinău

Zaria

Ungheni

CSF Speranța

CS Petrocub

Saxan

Tiraspol

Milsami

Chișinău teams:
Academia
Dacia
Zimbru

Tiraspol teams:
Dinamo-Auto
Sheriff

Location of teams in National Division 2016–17

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
CS Petrocub	Sărata-Galbenă	Stadionul Orășenesc Hîncești	1,500
Academia Chișinău	Chișinău	Ghidighici Stadium	1,500
CF Ungheni	Ungheni	Stadionul Mircea Eliade	2,500
Dacia Chișinău	Chișinău	Stadionul Moldova (Speia)	8,550
Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol	Tiraspol	Dinamo-Auto Stadium	1,300
Milsami Orhei	Orhei	CSR Orhei	2,539
Zaria Bălți	Bălți	Stadionul Orășenesc Bălți	5,953
Sheriff Tiraspol	Tiraspol	Sheriff Stadium	12,746
CSF Speranța	Nisporeni	Stadionul Mircea Eliade	2,500
Zimbru Chișinău	Chișinău	Zimbru Stadium	10,400
Saxan Gagauz Yeri	Ceadîr-Lunga	Ceadîr-Lunga Stadium	2,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Petrocub-Hîncești	Iurie Osipenco	Maxim Focșa	Sportika	MAIB
Academia	Serghei Secu	Eugen Celeadnic	Sportika
Ungheni	Igor Ursachi	Roman Gușan	Kelme	Bricone
Dacia	Viorel Frunză	Simeon Bulgaru	Puma	OM
Dinamo-Auto	Iurie Groșev	Dumitru Popovici	Joma
Milsami	Adrian Sosnovschi	Vadim Bolohan	Kelme	Dufremol
Zaria	Vlad Goian	Alexandru Onica	Joma	Bălți
Sheriff	Roberto Bordin	Josip Brezovec	Adidas	IDC
Speranța	Cristian Efros	Mihail Bolun	Nike	Orom-Imexpo
Zimbru	Ștefan Stoica	Denis Rusu	Joma	Favorit-Tur
Saxan	Ivan Tabanov	Ismaila Soro	Kelme	Gagauz Yeri

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Zaria Bălți	Ihor Rakhayev[1]	Mutual consent	9 June 2016	preseason	Vlad Goian[2]	10 June 2016
FC Sheriff	Zoran Vulić[3]	Mutual consent	16 June 2016	preseason	Bruno Irles[4]	20 June 2016
CF Ungheni	Dorin Bambuleac	Mutual consent	22 June 2016	preseason	Constantin Arbănaș & Igor Ursachi[5]	22 June 2016
FC Sheriff	Bruno Irles[6]	Mutual consent	23 September 2016	preseason	Roberto Bordin[7]	4 October 2016

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sheriff Tiraspol (C)	30	22	3	5	71	15	+56	69[a]	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2	Dacia Chișinău	30	22	3	5	54	15	+39	69[a]	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[b]
3	Milsami Orhei	30	22	2	6	57	20	+37	68
4	Zaria Bălți	30	20	5	5	56	21	+35	65
5	Zimbru Chișinău	30	13	7	10	32	29	+3	46
6	Petrocub Hîncești	30	8	10	12	31	38	−7	34
7	Speranța Nisporeni	30	7	8	15	24	35	−11	29
8	Academia Chișinău	30	8	3	19	21	52	−31	27	Withdrew[c]
9	Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol	30	5	8	17	31	58	−27	23
10	Saxan (R)	30	5	4	21	23	57	−34	19	Relegation to Division "A"
11	Ungheni (R)	30	4	5	21	19	79	−60	17

Source: FMF, UEFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-off (only if deciding champion when two teams tied); 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Matches won; 8) Goal difference; 9) Goals scored; 10) Fairplay ranking.^[8][10]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. According to section 10.5 of the Moldovan Football Championship Regulations, 2016-2017 Edition, an extra match was played to determine the Moldovan champions.^[8] The match was played on 30 May 2017 and was won by Sheriff Tiraspol who became league champions.^[9]
2. Since the winners of 2016–17 Moldovan Cup, Sheriff Tiraspol, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the next best-placed team (in this case to the fourth-placed team).
3. Academia Chișinău completed the season but withdrew from the league prior to the start of the next season.

Gold Match

Since Dacia Chișinău and Sheriff Tiraspol finished level on points at the end of the season, a "Gold Match" was played to decide the title.^[11] The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held on 23 May 2017.^[12]

30 May 2017 (2017-05-30)

20:00 EEST

Sheriff Tiraspol	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Dacia Chișinău
Damașcan 37'	FMF (in Romanian) Soccerway	Posmac 73'
Penalties
Ricardinho Teixeira Oancea	3–0	Sarmov Isa Palavandishvili

Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău

Attendance: 6,615

Referee: Veaceslav Banari

Results

The schedule consists of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team plays each other once home-and-away for a total of 20 matches. The pairings of the third round will then be set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 30 games per team.

First and second round

Home \ Away	ACA	DAC	DIN	MIL	PET	SAX	SHE	SPE	UNG	ZAR	ZIM
Academia Chișinău	—	0–1	1–2	0–4	2–1	1–0	0–1	3–1	4–1	0–2	0–2
Dacia Chișinău	2–0	—	4–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	1–2	0–1
Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol	3–1	0–3	—	0–4	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–4	2–2	1–3	1–1
Milsami Orhei	2–0	1–0	4–1	—	5–0	2–0	2–1	4–0	4–0	1–2	1–0
Petrocub Hîncești	0–1	0–4	3–1	0–2	—	2–1	0–0	1–1	5–0	2–2	1–2
Saxan	1–0	0–2	0–3	0–1	2–0	—	1–5	2–2	2–2	1–4	3–0
Sheriff Tiraspol	1–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	4–0	3–0	—	2–0	7–0	1–2	3–0
Speranța Nisporeni	0–1	1–2	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–1	0–2	—	3–0	0–1	0–1
Ungheni	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–2	0–2	3–0	1–2	0–0	—	0–3	1–1
Zaria Bălți	6–0	1–0	2–1	0–2	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–2	3–0	—	3–0
Zimbru Chișinău	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–4	2–0	4–0	0–1	—

Source: Moldovan Football Federation (in Romanian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third round

Home \ Away	ACA	DAC	DIN	MIL	PET	SAX	SHE	SPE	UNG	ZAR	ZIM
Academia Chișinău	—	0–4	1–1	—	0–0	—	—	—	0–1	0–4	—
Dacia Chișinău	—	—	4–1	—	1–0	—	—	—	3–0	1–0	3–1
Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol	—	—	—	0–1	2–2	2–0	0–0	—	—	—	1–1
Milsami Orhei	3–2	0–0	—	—	—	3–1	—	1–0	—	2–0	—
Petrocub Hîncești	—	—	—	3–1	—	1–0	0–2	0–0	—	—	1–1
Saxan	1–0	2–3	—	—	—	—	—	0–1	3–0	1–1	—
Sheriff Tiraspol	1–2	0–1	—	5–0	—	7–1	—	4–1	—	—	—
Speranța Nisporeni	0–0	0–1	4–1	—	—	—	—	—	0–1	0–0	—
Ungheni	—	—	2–2	0–2	0–4	—	0–6	—	—	—	1–2
Zaria Bălți	—	—	3–2	—	2–1	—	0–2	—	5–0	—	2–0
Zimbru Chișinău	4–0	—	—	1–0	—	0–0	0–1	1–1	—	—	—

Source: Moldovan Football Federation (in Romanian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[13]
1	Ricardinho	Sheriff	15
2	Josip Brezovec	Sheriff	12
3	Cheikh-Alan Diarra	Dacia (5) & Dinamo-Auto (4)	9
	Sergiu Plătică	Speranța
5	Octavian Onofrei	Dinamo-Auto	8
	Igor Bugaiov	Zaria
7	Maksym Feshchuk	Dacia	7
	Ilya Belous	Milsami
	Viorel Primac	Ungheni
	Georgi Sarmov	Dacia
	Maxim Mihaliov	Zaria
	Igor Banović	Milsami

Hat-tricks

Player	Home	Away	Result	Date
Maksym Feshchuk	Dacia	Ungheni	3–0	1 October 2016
Ricardinho	Sheriff	Speranța	4–1	30 April 2017
Ricardinho	Ungheni	Sheriff	0–6	21 May 2017

Clean sheets

As of 13 June 2017

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Radu Mîțu	Milsami	18
2	Alexei Koșelev	Sheriff	17
	Dorian Railean	Dacia	17
4	Denis Rusu	Zimbru	11
5	Vasile Buza	Petrocub	9
	Serghei Pașcenco	Zaria	9
7	Vladimir Livșiț	Zaria	6
	Andrei Colibaba	Saxan	6
9	Nicolae Țurcan	Speranța	5

Disciplinary

Updated to matches played on 13 June 2017.^[13]

Rank	Player	Club				Points
1	Eugen Celeadnic	Academia	10	1	0	12
2	Michael Gnolou	Saxan	6	1	1	11
3	Igor Banović	Milsami	7	1	0	9
	Vasile Rusu	Petrocub	6	0	1	9
	Alexandru Vremea	Academia	9	0	0	9
	Alexandru Dedov	Milsami	9	0	0	9
	Constantin Calmîș	Saxan (4) & Speranța (5)	9	0	0	9
8	Cristin Jalbă	Academia (7) & Dacia Chișinău (1)	5	0	1	8
	Roman Gușan	Ungheni	5	0	1	8
	Maxim Antoniuc	Academia (3) & Petrocub (5)	5	0	1	8
	Vladimir Rassulov	Dinamo-Auto	8	0	0	8
	Mihai Roșca	Academia	8	0	0	8
	Vitalie Negru	Speranța (4) & Ungheni (4)	8	0	0	8