Botev (Plovdiv) secured their 6th consecutive match without a defeat in the Efbet League, clinching a 2:0 victory over Arda. The 19th round match of the First League was held at “Arena Arda” in Kardzhali.
In the game’s 5th minute, Emanuel Umeh intercepted the ball and broke into the penalty area, but Arda’s Anatoliy Gospodinov managed to block his shot. A few minutes later, Hidayet Hankic was in position, and no surprise followed – after a cross from the left flank, Preslav Borukov failed to play the ball, leading Hankic to intervene.
On the 23rd minute, Arda’s Stanislav Ivanov headed towards the far post to Plamen Krachunov, who shot from close range. However, Hidayet Hankic brilliantly saved the attempt. On the 37th minute, Antoine Baroan received a pass from the left wing by Konstantinos Balogiannis – our striker headed the ball, but Arda’s goalkeeper deflected it. The first half ended goalless at 0:0.
Early in the second half, Ivelin Popov set up Samuel Akere, who beat Anatoliy Gospodinov and scored, but the goal was disallowed for offside after about 4 minutes of VAR review.
On the 63rd minute, Botev took the lead. Ivelin Popov made a smart pass from the sideline to Emanuel Umeh, who accurately sent the ball into the net for 0:1.
On the 78th minute, Umeh again had a great chance to double the lead, but the home team’s goalkeeper made another save.
The 80th minute saw the second goal for the “Canaries” – another assist from Ivelin Popov found Yanis Karabelyov, who took the pass at the edge of the penalty area and with a superb shot to the near post scored for 0:2.
In the next round, Botev will visit Etar in Veliko Tarnovo for a match in the 1/8 finals of the Sesame Cup of Bulgaria on December 7, and three days later, we will host Hebar at “The College” in our last match for the 2023 calendar year.
BOTEV’S LINEUP: Hidayet Hankic, Ivelin Popov (C), Antoine Baroan, James Eto’o, Samuel Akere, Antoine Conte, Antonio Perera, Yanis Karabelyov, Emanuel Umeh, Konstantinos Balogiannis, Atanas Chernev.
RESERVES: Daniel Kaiser, Jonas Tamm, Martin Seculic, Faustas Steponavicius, Nikolay Minkov, Dimitar Papazov, Tochukwu Nnadi, Lachezar Baltanov, Krasian Kolev.
