 On 26 August, Niculae netted his first hat-trick in the second leg against Mondercange, helping his team to win 7–0.Niculae managed to score in six consecutive games in all competitions, after he netted two more goals against Astra Ploieşti and Rocar Bucureşti, netting eight times overall.On 16 September, he played in a 1–0 away victory over Benfica in the UEFA Cup, coming in as a substitute for Daniel Iftodi.