The team of Botev (Plovdiv) lost 2:1 to Krumovgrad in their first match of the spring part of the championship in efbet League. The match from the XXI round of the First League was played at the “Nikola Shterev – Starika” Football Complex.
The Botevists received solid support from their fans who filled the stands at the club base on Saturday.
In the 6th minute of the match, after a wonderful solo performance, Krumovgrad took the lead through Alexander Kolev. The striker shot past Matvei Igonen’s goal with a cannonball shot from a long distance for 1:0.
The “yellow and black” had a great chance to equalize just a minute after the goal. Antonio Perera shot, and Krumovgrad goalkeeper Yanko Georgiev made a good save. The ball then found the onrushing Nikolay Minkov, but he failed to get a good shot and the ball hit the post and went out.
In the 23rd minute of the match, captain Ivelin Popov led Georgi Nikolov with a wonderful pass – he overtook Yanko Georgiev, who fouled the striker. Behind the goal was Georgi Nikolov, who managed to realize his official debut goal with Botev’s team and equalized the score – 1:1. The score remained unchanged until the end of the first half.
The second part began with pressure from the Botevists. In the 65th minute, Ehije Ukaki, who came off the bench and made his official debut for Botev, took the ball and led Samuel Akere, who with one touch managed to beat Yanko Georgiev and score in his goal. However, an offiside signal was immediately sounded and the goal was canceled by the head referee Georgi Kabakov.
In the 77th minute, team captain Ivelin Popov advanced and was tackled, but no foul followed. The ball reached Akere, who crossed, and Martin Sekulic scored with a header – this goal was disallowed after a long VAR check.
The 17-year-old talent from – Veliyan Vidolov, who entered the game in the 87th minute, made his official debut with the “yellow-black”.
The next meeting for Dusan Kerkez and the Botev players is on Friday, February 23 at 17:30 against the Etar (Veliko Tarnovo) at the “Hristo Botev” stadium in Plovdiv.
STARTING XI: 32. Matvey Igonen – 15. James Еtо’о, 19. Antoine Conte, 79. Atanas Chernev, 38. Konstantinos Balogiannis – 20. Antonio Perera (73′ – 6. Dylan Mertens), 28. Yanis Karabelyob – 17. Nikolay Minkov (63′ – 4. Ehije Ukaki), 10. Ivelin Popov (C), 16. Samuel Akere – 93. Georgi Nikolov (73′ – 9. Martin Sekulic)
RESERVES: 22. Daniel Kaiser – 14. Faustas Steponavicius, 18. Dimitar Papazov, 30. Luchezar Baltanov, 41. Veliyan Vidolov, 42. Ivaylo Videv
