# 2015–16 Moldovan National Division

The 2015–16 Moldovan National Division (Romanian: Divizia Națională) is the 25th season of top-tier football in Moldova. The competition began in July 2015 and will end in May 2016. Milsami Orhei are the defending champions.

## Teams

FC Petrocub Hîncești, runners-up of the 2014–15 "A" Division, promoted to the National Division for the first time since the 2002–03 season. Speranța Nisporeni, which became third in the 2014–15 "A" Division, returns to the highest level for the first time since the 1997–98 season. Both teams achieved their second consecutive promotion. The champions of the 2014–15 "A" Division, FC Sheriff-2, are not allowed to play in the same league as the first Sheriff team, and thus were not promoted.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Academia Chișinău | Chișinău | Stadionul CPSN | 1,000 |
| CS Petrocub | Sărata-Galbenă | Stadionul Orășenesc Hîncești | 1,500 |
| 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 | Olimpia Bălți Stadium | 5,953 |
| Saxan Gagauz Yeri | Ceadîr-Lunga | Ceadîr-Lunga Stadium | 2,000 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | Tiraspol | Sheriff Stadium | 12,746 |
| CSF Speranța | Nisporeni | Stadionul Mircea Eliade | 2,500 |
| Zimbru Chișinău | Chișinău | Zimbru Stadium | 10,400 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

| Team | Home city | Head coach | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Academia | Chișinău | Vlad Goian | Macron | |
| CS Petrocub | Sărata-Galbenă | Eduard Blănuță | Joma | Moldova Agroindbank |
| Dacia | Chișinău | Oleg Bezhenar | Puma | - |
| Dinamo-Auto | Tiraspol | Nicolae Mandrîcenco | Umbro | Ipotecniy |
| Milsami | Orhei | Adrian Sosnovschi | Joma | Dufremol |
| Zaria | Bălți | Ihor Rakhayev | Acerbis | Simtravel |
| Saxan Ceadîr-Lunga | Ceadîr-Lunga | Oleg Fistican | Kelme | |
| Sheriff | Tiraspol | Zoran Vulić | Adidas | IDC |
| CSF Speranța | Nisporeni | Cristian Efros | Nike | Orom Imexpo |
| Zimbru | Chișinău | Flavius Stoican | Puma | Obolon |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Sheriff | Zoran Zekić | Mutual consent | 26 May 2015 | preseason | Lilian Popescu | 1 June 2015 |
| Saxan | Ivan Burduniuc | Mutual consent | 29 May 2015 | preseason | Vlad Goian | 29 May 2015 |
| Zimbru Chișinău | Veaceslav Rusnac | Mutual consent | 16 June 2015 | preseason | Ștefan Stoica | 16 June 2015 |
| Dinamo-Auto | Igor Negrescu | Mutual consent | 29 June 2015 | preseason | Nicolae Mandrîcenco | 29 June 2015 |
| Zaria Bălți | Serghei Dubrovin | Mutual consent | 24 July 2015 | preseason | Veaceslav Rogac | 24 July 2015 |
| Academia | Vladimir Vusatîi | Mutual consent | 24 July 2015 | preseason | Yuriy Hroshev | 24 July 2015 |
| Dacia Chișinău | Igor Dobrovolski | Sacked | 4 August 2015 | 8 | Oleg Valeriyovych Bezhenar | 4 August 2015 |
| Saxan | Vlad Goian | Mutual consent | 16 September 2015 | 10 | Nicolae Panu (caretaker) | 16 September 2015 |
| Sheriff | Lilian Popescu | Mutual consent | 5 October 2015 | 2 | Zoran Vulić | 7 October 2015 |
| Academia | Yuriy Hroshev | Mutual consent | 26 October 2015 | 9 | Vlad Goian | 26 October 2015 |
| Milsami Orhei | Iurie Osipenco | Mutual consent | 3 November 2015 | 7 | Vladimir Veber (caretaker) | 3 November 2015 |
| Milsami Orhei | Vladimir Veber (caretaker) | End of tenure as a caretaker | 16 November 2015 | 7 | Iurie Osipenco | 16 November 2015 |
| Zimbru Chișinău | Ștefan Stoica | Mutual consent | 24 November 2015 | 3 | Simão Freitas | 24 December 2015 |
| Zaria Bălți | Veaceslav Rogac | Mutual consent | 12 January 2016 | 5 | Ihor Rakhayev | 12 January 2016 |
| Milsami Orhei | Iurie Osipenco | Mutual consent | 3 February 2016 | 7 | Adrian Sosnovschi | 3 February 2016 |
| FC Saxan | Nicolae Panu (caretaker) | End of tenure as a caretaker | 8 February 2016 | 10 | Oleg Fistican | 8 February 2016 |
| Zimbru Chișinău | Simão Freitas | Mutual consent | 3 May 2016 | 3 | Flavius Stoican | 11 May 2016 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sheriff Tiraspol (C) | 27 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 50 | 11 | +39 | 65 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Dacia Chișinău | 27 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 44 | 12 | +32 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Zimbru Chișinău | 27 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 49 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Zaria Bălți | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 42 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 33 | 34 | −1 | 41 | |
| 6 | Milsami Orhei | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 33 | 23 | +10 | 36 | |
| 7 | Speranța Nisporeni | 27 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 24 | 36 | −12 | 31 | |
| 8 | Petrocub Hîncești | 27 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 53 | −32 | 21 | |
| 9 | Academia Chișinău | 27 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 18 | 42 | −24 | 21 | |
| 10 | Saxan | 27 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 10 | 45 | −35 | 8 | |
* 1 2 According to section 10.5 of the Moldovan Football Championship Regulations, 2015-2016 Edition, an extra match was played to determine the Moldovan champions. The match was played on 29 May 2016 and was won by Sheriff Tiraspol who became league champions.
* ↑ Zaria Bălți qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Moldovan Cup
* 1 2 Petrocub Hîncești ahead of Academia Chișinău on head-to-head record; Petrocub–Academia 0–0, Academia–Petrocub 1–0, Petrocub–Academia 4–2.

## Gold Match

The gold match was played on 29 May 2016 at Zimbru Stadium. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held on 22 May 2016.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 1–0 | Dacia Chișinău |

## 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 18 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 27 games per team.

### First and second round

| Home \ Away | ACA | DAC | DIN | MIL | ZAR | SAX | SHE | SPE | ZIM | PET |
| Academia Chișinău | | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–5 | 1–0 |
| Dacia Chișinău | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 |
| Milsami Orhei | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 3–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 |
| Zaria Bălți | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 5–1 |
| Saxan Ceadîr-Lunga | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 |
| CSF Speranța | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Zimbru Chișinău | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 3–0 |
| CS Petrocub | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 1–2 | |

### Third round

| Home \ Away | ACA | DAC | DIN | MIL | ZAR | SAX | SHE | SPE | ZIM | PET |
| Academia Chișinău | | 0–3 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | | | | 0–0 | |
| Dacia Chișinău | | | 4–1 | | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 3–0 |
| Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol | 3–1 | | | 1–0 | | | 0–1 | 2–1 | | |
| Milsami Orhei | | 2–0 | | | 1–1 | | | | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Zaria Bălți | | 0–1 | 0–2 | | | 2–0 | | | 4–2 | 4–2 |
| Saxan Ceadîr-Lunga | 0–3 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | | | | 2–0 | | |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 2–0 | | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | | 2–0 | |
| CSF Speranța | 0–0 | | | 0–4 | 1–2 | | 1–4 | | | |
| Zimbru Chișinău | | 0–2 | 2–1 | | | 1–0 | | 1–0 | | 1–0 |
| CS Petrocub | 4–2 | | 1–4 | | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | |

## Goalscoring
### Top goalscorers

    Updated to matches played on 30 May 2016.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Danijel Subotić | Sheriff Tiraspol | 12 |
| 2 | Andrei Bugneac | Dinamo-Auto | 11 |
| 3 | Serhiy Zahynaylov | Dacia Chișinău | 10 |
| 3 | Gheorghe Boghiu | Zaria | 10 |
| 5 | Rui Miguel | Zimbru Chișinău | 9 |
| 6 | Vadim Cemîrtan | Dinamo-Auto & Dacia Chișinău | 7 (4 + 3) |
| 6 | Sergiu Istrati | FC Saxan & Academia Chișinău | 7 (5 + 2) |
| 6 | Roman Șumchin | CS Petrocub | 7 |
| 9 | Ricardinho | Sheriff Tiraspol | 6 |
| 9 | Vladimir Ambros | CS Petrocub | 6 |

### Hat-tricks

Key :
| $^4$ | Player scored four goals |
| $^5$ | Player scored five goals |
| Player | Home | Away | Result | Date |
| Rui Miguel Rodrigues | Academia Chișinău | Zimbru Chișinău | 1–5 | 18 September 2015 |
| Serhiy Zahynaylov | Academia Chișinău | Dacia Chișinău | 0–3 | 4 February 2016 |

## Clean sheets

    As of 30 May 2016
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Artiom Gaiduchevici | Dacia Chișinău | 15 |
| 1 | Alexei Coșelev | Sheriff Tiraspol | 15 |
| 3 | Vozinha | Zimbru Chișinău | 12 |
| 4 | Nicolae Țurcan | Speranța Nisporeni | 11 |
| 5 | Cristian Avram | Academia Chișinău | 9 |
| 6 | Radu Mîțu | Milsami | 7 |
| 6 | Alexandru Zveaghințev | Dinamo-Auto | 7 |
| 8 | Vladimir Livșiț | Zaria Bălți | 5 |
| 8 | Victor Buga | CS Petrocub | 5 |

## Disciplinary

| Rank | Player | Club | | | | Points |
| 1 | Andrei Cojocari | Milsami Orhei | 8 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | Vadim Cemîrtan | Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol & Dacia Chișinău | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 (7 + 2) |
| 3 | Rui Miguel | Zimbru Chișinău | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Alex Bruno | Zimbru Chișinău | 6 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | Alexandru Onică | Zaria Bălți | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Samuel Duah | FC Saxan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Salif Inoua | FC Saxan | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Alexandru Starîș | Zimbru Chișinău | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Victor Mudrac | Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Roman Șumchin | CS Petrocub | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Seidu Yahaya | Sheriff Tiraspol | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Eugen Celeadnic | Academia Chișinău | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 |

## Attendances

    Updated to matches played on 24 May 2016.
    As of 24 May 2016
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Zaria Bălți | 30,850 | 5,000 | 850 | 2,925 | +265.6%$^†$ |
| 2 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 30,260 | 4,500 | 1,100 | 2,800 | +70.7%$^†$ |
| 3 | Milsami Orhei | 22,500 | 3,000 | 600 | 1,800 | +9.1%$^†$ |
| 4 | Saxan Ceadîr-Lunga | 17,600 | 2,500 | 900 | 1,700 | −26.1%$^†$ |
| 5 | Zimbru Chișinău | 14,895 | 4,000 | 395 | 2,198 | +9.9%$^†$ |
| 6 | CS Petrocub | 11,550 | 1,000 | 400 | 700 | n/a$^†$ |
| 7 | CSF Speranța | 8,700 | 2,000 | 300 | 1,150 | n/a$^†$ |
| 8 | Dacia Chișinău | 8,280 | 3,000 | 150 | 1,575 | +350.0%$^†$ |
| 9 | Academia Chișinău | 3,350 | 500 | 50 | 275 | −15.4%$^†$ |
| 10 | Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol | 3,230 | 1,000 | 80 | 540 | +208.6%$^†$ |
| | League total | 150,215 | 5,000 | 50 | 2,525 | +24.7%$^†$ |
Source: