Botev (Plovdiv) secured a 1:0 win against Hebar (Pazardzhik) in the 20th round of the First League, in the last match of 2023 at Hristo Botev Stadium.
The only goal was scored following an assist from Ivelin Popov to Antonio Perera, who marked his debut goal for the “Canaries” with a header on the 57th minute.
Before the match, the club’s executive director Alexey Kirichek awarded Antoine Baroan with a plaque for being the “most successful foreigner in the club’s history.”
Във 2-та минута на мача първи точен удар дойде на сметката на Мартин Секулич. Изпълнението му обаче не затрудни Матвей Игонен, който улови. Секунди по-късно, Ивелин Попов намери с центриране отново Секулич, който стреля с глава. И този му точен изстрел обаче бе отразен от стража на “гробарите”.
In the 10th minute, Samuel Akere had a shot that went just wide of the right post. The first half was evenly matched.
The second half started with pressure from Dushan Kerkez’s players. Tochukwu Nnadi made a great pass behind Hebar’s defense to James Eto’o, who controlled it on his chest but couldn’t shoot well.
The 57th minute saw Botev’s goal. A short corner was played by the “Canaries,” and captain Ivelin Popov delivered an excellent cross into the guests’ penalty area – there Antonio Perera rose above Hebar’s defense and headed in his debut goal for Botev.
In the 72nd minute, Martin Sekulic was found following a cross from Konstantinos Baloyannis on the left. Sekulic was unmarked but couldn’t shoot directly, instead hitting the ball into the ground, bouncing off the crossbar and over.
In the 80th minute, Ivelin Popov’s corner found Yanis Karabelov, who headed it to Martin Sekulic, who tried to tap it into Hebar’s net. Igonen managed to intervene, but not completely, and after a second attempt by the Croatian, Stilian Tissovski cleared it from the goal line.
The match at “The College” ended with Botev’s third consecutive elite victory and another three points.
BOTEV’S LINEUP: Hidayet Hankic, Martin Sekulic, Ivelin Popov (C), James Eto’o, Samuel Akere, Antonio Perera, Tochukwu Nnadi, Yanis Karabelov, Emanuel Umeh, Konstantinos Balogiannis, Atanas Chernev
RESERVES: Daniel Kaiser, Kostadin Tatarov, Faustas Steponavicius, Nikolay Minkov, Dimitar Papazov, Lachezar Baltanov, Veliyan Vidolov, Ivaylo Videv, Krasian Kolev
