Daniel Bîrligea scored a “brace” for Frosinone and became the first Romanian to score twice in Serie A since Adrian Mutu

Daniel Bîrligea scored twice for Frosinone in their 5-1 victory over Lecce on matchday nine of Serie A. The 26-year-old Romanian striker scored his first goals since joining the Italian league and achieved a feat that had not been matched by a Romanian footballer for nearly 14 years.

Bîrligea is the first Romanian to score a brace in Serie A since Adrian Mutu. The last such occasion was on January 15, 2012, when Mutu played for Cesena and scored twice in the home match against Novara.

The former Romanian international opened the scoring in the 20th minute and converted a penalty in the 39th minute. Cesena won 3-1, and the match held special significance for Mutu: the two goals helped him surpass the milestone of 100 goals in Serie A.

Adrian Mutu remains the only Romanian footballer to have scored more than 100 goals in Italy's top flight. With his performance against Lecce, Bîrligea joins an elite group and strengthens his start in Italian football.