Petrocub and Egnatia Rrogozhinë shared the points in a dramatic 1-1 draw at Stadionul Zimbru in the first leg of their Champions League first qualifying round tie.
The hosts couldn't have asked for a better start, with P. Popescu firing Petrocub ahead inside the opening minute, immediately putting Leonid Pascaru's 5-4-1 setup on the front foot.
Egnatia, deployed in a 3-5-2 by coach Nevil Dede, responded well and drew level in the 35th minute through A. Kryeziu, who was teed up by G. Jaime to make it 1-1.
The Albanian side's night took a turn for the worse right at the end of the first half when A. Aleksi was shown a straight red card in the third minute of stoppage time, leaving Egnatia to play the entire second period a man down.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Egnatia held firm defensively, making tactical changes early in the second half including introducing I. Gruda and A. Yago as they shuffled their attacking options.
Both sides picked up bookings throughout the second period - O. David, J. Guera Djou and I. Bors for Petrocub, and S. Bakayoko and K. Loukili for Egnatia - but neither could find a winner.
The draw leaves the tie finely balanced ahead of the second leg, with Egnatia's disciplinary issue a concern going forward.