Botev (Plovdiv) eliminated Maribor and continues to the second qualifying round of the Europa League after a 2:2 draw in the second leg at “Ludski Vrt” Stadium. After a 2:1 victory at “Hristo Botev” stadium a week ago, the Canaries eliminated their Slovenian opponent with a 4:3 aggregate score. In the second qualifying round, the “yellow-black” will face Panathinaikos F.C.
A full away sector was in support of the “canaries”, and in front of a total of over 8,000 spectators, both teams had goal-scoring situations already in the opening minutes of the match. Maribor still took the lead in the 13th minute with a goal by Jan Repas, and until the end of the half the Slovenians continued the pressure, which led to more situations in front of Matvei Igonen’s goal. No goals however followed.
The beginning of the second half was in favor of Dušan Kerkez’s team. Substitute Christian Nwachukwu equalized in the 47th minute. There followed more good situations for the “canaries” before the comeback. In 60′, Anthony Ujah took advantage of Nwachukwu’s pass and converted for 2:1. 10′ before the end of the match, Etienne Beaugre scored to make it 2:2, but the draw ensured Botev’s progress in the tournament. Maribor became the eleventh opponent that Botev eliminated in European club tournaments.
In the second qualifying round of the Europa League, Botev will meet the winner of the Greek Cup, Panathinaikos. The first match is on July 25 in Athens, and the second leg at the “Hristo Botev” stadium is a week later, on August 1.
Botev’s starting line-up: 32.Matvey Igonen; 38. Konstantinos Balogiannis, 5. Joonas Tamm, 19. Antoine Conte, 17. Nikolai Minkov; 15. James Eto’o; 20. Antonio Perera; 21. Nikola Iliev, 10. Ivelin Popov (C), 7. Samuel Akere, 11. Anthony Ujah
