Botev Plovdiv recorded a second consecutive home success and prevailed 2:1 over Cherno more. The match from the 17th round of the First League was played under continuous rain at the “Hristo Botev” stadium in Plovdiv.
After the “canaries” deserved to leave with a point from Sofia in the last round, today the Plovdiv team deservedly congratulated themselves with the full points advantage over one of the best teams in the championship.
The match was Dimitar Dimitrov’s official debut at the Hristo Botev Stadium. The coach was greeted with thunderous applause from the audience, who chanted his name several times.
Similar to the clash with CSKA, the “yellow-blacks” started the match very actively and managed to open the score early. In the 10th minute, Todor Nedelev and Nikola Iliev combined on the touchline, the youth international crossed excellently and Franklin Mascotte with a header left no chance for Tomov – 1:0.
2 minutes later Daniel Naumov made an important save, parrying a dangerous shot by Berk Beihan. 3 minutes later, a solid shot by Nikolay Minkov was cleared by the visitors’ guard.
In the 40th minute, the head referee Marian Grebencharski and the entire refereeing team blew up the atmosphere at “Kolezha” after trying to find a penalty for Cherno More, but in the end, justice prevailed and an 11-meter penalty kick was not awarded.
At the very end of the first half, a tricky shot by Assen Chandarov was saved by Daniel Naumov.
The second half started with a lot of fighting and no clear scoring chances in front of either goal. In the 69th minute, one of the best players for Botev this season – Armstrong Oko-Flex crossed to Lucas Araujo, who from the move checked Tomov for the second time – 2:0.
The calm in the “yellow-black” home lasted only 8 minutes, after in the 77th minute Vasil Panayotov scored a goal for the Cherno more, which came after an assist from Assen Chandarov.
Deep into overtime, Oko-Flex blew up the stands of “Kolezha” with a third goal, but it was canceled by the refereeing brigade for a situation during the attack.
Botev’s squad:
Daniel Naumov, Nikola Iliev, Todor Nedelev, Nikolay Minkov, Enock Kwateng, Armstrong Oko-Flex, Emmanuel Ojo Abraham, Franklin Chagas Mascotte, Konstantinos Baloggiannis, Ivaylo Videv, Simeon Petrov
Subs: Hristian Slavkov, Gabriel Noga, John Emmanuel, Martin Georgiev, Dimitar Mitkov, Tailson Gonsalves, Steven Petkov, Lucas Araujo, Samuel Kalou
Head coach: DImitar Dimitrov
