He came back strong during the following season, after he scored 16 goals in 26 games, also helping the club win the Cupa României, being used by coach Ioan Andone in all the minutes from the 1–0 victory in the final against Național București, the fans eventually accepting him as he became a top-scorer of the team, making a successful couple in the team's offence in the following years with Claudiu Niculescu, the Romanian press calling them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired from the first letters of their family name and the Romanian pop band "N&D".
He returned to form in the following season, after scoring 16 goals in 26 games, also helping the club win the Cupa României, being used by coach Ioan Andone in all the minutes from the 1–0 victory in the final against Național București, the fans eventually accepting him as he became a top-scorer of the team, making a successful partnership with Claudiu Niculescu, the Romanian press calling them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired by the first letters of their family name and the Romanian pop band "N&D".