Botev (Plovdiv) did not encounter any particular difficulties and beat Botev (Vratsa) 2:0 in a match of the XXIX round of the efbet League. At the Hristo Botev Stadium, the Canaries scored one goal before the break through Dylan Mertens and added a goal in the second half through Antonio Perera.
The first more dangerous situation in the match opened before the guests from Vratsa. In the 22nd minute, Miroslav Marinov received the ball on the left flank and shot diagonally towards Hidayet Hankic’s goal. Botev’s guard, however, reflected masterfully.
In the 28th minute came the first significant chance for the hosts. James Eto’o brought Ehije Ukaki alone against the goalkeeper, but the Botev footballer was unable to overcome Krasimir Kostov and the score remained 0:0.
Minutes later, Mohamed Brahimi scored from an identical situation, but his goal was disallowed for offside.
In the 39th minute, however, the pressure of the “yellow and black” yielded a result. The individual class of Dylan Mertens allowed him to fight for a shooting position and with an unchallenged shot he sent the ball into the goal for 1:0.
At the end of the first half, the guests from Vratsa claimed an 11-meter penalty kick. However, the referee overlooked the situation, and the VAR confirmed his decision and no penalty was awarded.
The second half started patiently for both teams. The first significant chance after the break was again for the “yellow-black”. Brahimi was again brought behind the visitors’ defense and again sent the ball into the goal, but this goal was also disallowed for offside after the intervention of VAR.
In the 61st minute, the Canaries trembled, but kept their one-goal lead. A mistake in the center allowed Botev Vratsa to steal the ball. Their counter-attack ended with a header from Clary Serber.
However, Botev (Plovdiv) scored another goal to calm down the events on the field. In the 63rd minute, after a cross from a corner, Antonio Perera managed to head home for 2:0.
By the end of the match, no more hits were scored. On several occasions, Hankic intervened confidently to keep a clean sheet, which is the fourth in a row for Botev (Plovdiv).
With the victory, the “Canaries” climbed to 6th place in the provisional standings with 41 points from 29 matches. In the last round of the regular season in the championship, Botev visited Lokomotiv (Sofia). Before that, however, the “yellow and black” have an important visit to CSKA in a ½-final match of the Bulgarian Cup on Wednesday (17.04) at 19:00 at the national stadium “Vasil Levski”.
STARTING SQUAD: Hidayet Hankic – 4. Ehije Ukaki (74′ – 18. Dimitar Papazov), 5. Jonas Tamm, 19. Antoine Conte (66′ – 79. Atanas Chernev), 38. Konstantinos Balogiannis – 15. James Eto’o, 6. Dylan Martens (81′ – 10. Ivelin Popov), 20. Antonio Perera – 17. Nikolay Minkov, 7. Mohamed Brahimi (82′ – 14. Faustas Steponavichus) – 31. Ume Emmanuel (76′ – 9. Martin Sekulic)
RESERVES: 32.Matvey Igonen, 16. Samuel Akere, 30. Lachezar Baltanov, 40. Christian Nwachukwu
