Lucian Goian was born on 10 February 1983 in Suceava, Romania, starting to play junior level football at local club, Foresta, his talent being noticed by coach Ilie Gafencu.
[1][2][3] In 2004, Goian went to play for Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, making his Liga I debut on 13 March when coach Marius Lăcătuș sent him on the field in the 29th minute in order to replace Tiberiu Șerban in a 5–1 loss in front of Petrolul Ploiești in which he scored his side's goal.
[1][3][5] In the following season, he went to play for Dinamo București where he made his debut in European competitions when coach Ioan Andone sent him on the field in the 52nd minute in order to replace Andrei Mărgăritescu in a 2–1 home loss in front of Manchester United from the 2004–05 Champions League third qualifying round.
[1][6][15] On 15 September he scored his first league goal for The Red Dogs after receiving the ball from a corner kick executed by Claudiu Niculescu in a 5–2 win over Politehnica Iași.
[1][3][20] He made his official debut for Tianjin on 25 February when coach Josip Kuže used him all the minutes in a 2–1 CFA Super Cup defeat in front of Guangzhou Evergrande.
[3][21] In his single season spent with the club he appeared in 27 Chinese Super League games, scoring two goals in two 1–1 draws with Changchun Yatai and Henan Jianye.
[1][28] On 29 May 2016, Goian made his last Liga I appearance, playing in a 4–0 away loss in front of FC Botoșani, having a total of 175 matches with six goals scored in the competition.
[1][2][42] He was banned together with teammate Ianis Zicu from representing his country at any level for two years in 2004, because the Romanian Football Federation considered they had a "defiant attitude" during a 4–1 loss in front of Czech Republic U21.