Botev Plovdiv lost 1:2 to CSKA in a match from the 16th round of the First League. The match was played at the Vasil Levski National Stadium.
The match was an official debut for Dimitar Dimitrov – Hero at the head coach of the “Canaries”. The Plovdiv team started the match well, but in the end conceded two goals and left the capital without points.
The “Yellow-Blacks” started off great and opened the scoring in the 6th minute. A phenomenal pass from Todor Nedelev found Nikolay Minkov in the penalty area, the defender released a pass parallel to the goal line and Armstrong Oko-Flex did not miss, to the delight of the hundreds of Botev fans in the away section.
In the 13th minute, a very key situation for the final outcome came to light. Todor Nedelev received a pass from Konstantinos Ballogianis and from a brilliant position shot wide of the goal, squandering a phenomenal goal opportunity.
After less than 120 seconds, inexperienced referee Gero Piskov missed a clear penalty against Franklin Mascotte. Quite expectedly, the compromised Volen Chinkov, who was in charge of the VAR system, did not signal his young colleague and Botev was seriously harmed.
As time passed, the hosts managed to equalize the game, and by the end of the first half, a shot by Ioannis Pitas went over the crossbar.
After the break, the “Reds” had a serious territorial advantage, with a large part of the playing time being played in Botev’s half. In the 50th minute, Lapenya’s shot missed the target, and in the counterattack, Mascotte shot inaccurately.
In the 65th minute, Petko Panayotov missed in turn, and in the 69th minute, the hosts received a gift from the refereeing team, but from the awarded penalty, Ioannis Pitas shot against the crossbar.
The situation created gave the necessary momentum to the team from Sofia and in the 72nd minute Leandro Godoy managed to equalize with a shot from close range. In the 86th minute, Daniel Naumov, who played a strong game, saved a sure goal after a shot by Kevin Doday.
In the third minute of added time, the more active play of the “Reds” gave the desired result. Mohamed Brahimi crossed into the penalty area, where Leandro Godoy beat Enok Kwateng in the air and headed the ball to bring his team the three points.
STARTING LINEUPS:
CSKA: 21. Fyodor Lapouhov, 19.. Ivan Turitsov-K, 4. Adrian Lapeña, 5. Lumbard Delova, 17. Angelo Martino, 6. Bruno Jordao, 99. James Eto’o, 7. Ulaus Skarshem, 73. Ilian Iliev, 28. Ioannis Pitas, 9. Leandro Godoy
Botev: 29. Daniel Naumov, 2. Gabriel Noga, 87. Simeon Petrov, 22. Enock Kwateng, 38. Konstantinos Ballogianis, 6. Andrey Yordanov, 17. Nikolay Minkov, 25. Emmanuel Ojo, 8. Todor Nedelev-K, 23. Armstrong Oko-Flex, 30. Franklin Mascote
