Botev Plovdiv achieved an important 2:1 victory over Dobrudzha Dobrich in a match from the 15th round of the First League. The match was played at the “Hristo Botev” stadium in Plovdiv.
The “Canaries” had a weak first half, but after the break they significantly improved their performance and deservedly took the three points.
In the 4th minute, Samuel Kalu fired a dangerous shot that went over Galin Grigorov’s goal. The guests responded with a diagonal shot by Anton Ivanov, which flew past Hristiyan Slavkov’s crossbar.
In the 29th minute, Anton Ivanov crossed from the right and Mateus Leoni headed in. Hristiyan Slavkov initially intervened, but in the added time, Ivaylo Mihaylov sent the ball into the net for 0:1.
At the end of the first half, Andrey Yordanov undeservedly received a yellow card after being hit in the face by a visiting player, and no sanction followed for the offending Dobrudzha player.
The second half started with a precise shot from Emmanuel Ojo Abraham, who had a strong game. In the 61st minute, Dimitar Mitkov, who had appeared just seconds earlier, equalized the score after a trick pass from Franklin Mascotte.
3 minutes later, a cannon shot by Ojo Abraham was saved with great difficulty by Galin Grigorov. Seconds later, the guests were reduced in number after a rather stupid second yellow and red card for Di Matteo Lovric.
In the 74th minute, Samuel Kalu paraded through the guests’ defense and made a pass parallel to the goal line, and in the resulting situation, Dimitar Mitkov sent the ball into the net for 2:1.
In the 84th minute, Nikola Soldo came close to scoring the third goal, but his header went inches wide of the post. In the following minutes, the Canaries’ goalkeeper, Hristiyan Slavkov, was in the spotlight.
The Plovdiv youth player made two key saves to secure the team’s three points. In the 86th minute, the keeper expertly saved Kerchev’s header, and in extra time, he parried Leoni’s long-range shot.
BOTEV PLOVDIV: 1. Hristiyan Slavkov – 17. Nikolay Minkov, 4. Nikola Soldo, 42. Ivaylo Videv, 6. Andrey Yordanov – 25. Abraham Ojo – 90. Samuel Kalu, 8. Todor Nedelev (k), 7. Nikola Iliev, 23. Armstrong Oko-Flex – 30. Franklin Mascote
Reserves: 21. Nikolay Prandzhev (gk), 5. Martin Georgiev, 9. Dimitar Mitkov, 10. Tales, 11. Tailson, 13. Samuil Tsonov, 20. Steven Petkov, 77. Lucas Araujo, 87. Simeon Petrov
