Ludogorets came to an economic victory against Krumovgrad with 1:0 in Razgrad in a match of the 16th round of the First League. Kwadwo Dua scored the only goal in the 16′. The striker scored both goals in the first round against Slavia in a 2-0 win and is making a strong run with the Eagles.
This was the first game in charge of Krumovgrad for former coach of Ludogorets Stanislav Genchev, who failed to start in the way he had dreamed of. His team tried at times to surprise the graduates of Georgi Dermendzhiev, but it was simply obvious who was the classier team.
It was clear that the Bulgarian champion was saving his strength for the upcoming clash with Fenerbahce in the group stage of the Conference League. The match of the fourth round starts at 22:00 and is in Razgrad.
Thanks to the three points, Ludogorets took first place in the temporary ranking, ahead of CSKA by one point. However, the people of Razgrad have one more postponed match to play. “The Eagles” have an asset of 33 points, and Krumovgrad is 11th with 18. In the next round, Ludogorets visits Eter in Veliko Tarnovo, while Krumovgrad welcomes CSKA in Plovdiv.
FIRST HALF
The match started as expected with the dominance of Ludogorets. The “Eagles” started attacking from the first minute and often looked at the opponent’s goal. The hosts were more active on the left flank, but never managed to get a shot in the opening 10 minutes.
This changed in 16′. Caio Vidal then crossed for Spas Delev, who headed in Kwadvo Dua. The striker sent the ball into Makendzhiev’s goal, but an ambush was raised. After a subsequent review by VAR, the decision was changed, and the goal counted – 1:0.
In the following minutes, Krumovgrad tried to increase the speed and surprise the champions. The players concentrated on crosses in the penalty area, but all without success. In 31′, Alex Kolev shot from a free kick, but rather weakly and his shot was blocked.
In 35′ Caio Vidal tried a surprising diagonal kick, but it was blocked by a defender and went into a corner that did not lead to anything interesting. At the end of the half, it came to the first more dangerous shot for the visitors, but Sluga cleared, and a signal was given for handball in the course of the attack.
SECOND HALF-TIME
The first opportunity in the second half was for the people of Razgrad. In 50′ Dominik Yankov tried a diagonal shot, but Šimić blocked the attempt. Two minutes later, Blagoi Makendzhiev made a mistake and sent the ball to the head of Caio Vidal. However, he shoots right into the hands of the guard.
In the 61′, the reserves Jakub Piotrowski and Bernard Tekpetei combined, the Pole brought the Ghanaian into the penalty area. He shot, but Makendzhiev saved again. After him, Gonzalves and Piotrowski also distinguished themselves with misses.
In 69′, after a cross from a corner, Anton Nedyalkov continued with a header towards Kwadvo Dua, who shot into the left side post. Verdon then scored into an empty net, but the goal was disallowed due to an ambush by Dua. 5 minutes before the end Rick Jonathan tries his luck with a long shot but misses. This was the last more interesting situation in the match.
STARTING LINE-UPS
Ludogorets: Sluga, Nedyalkov, Gonsalves, Dua, Hidalgo, Rousseau, Verdon, Naresi, Vidal, Delev, Rouen;
Krumovgrad: Makendzhiev, Pehlivanov, Senkhanji, Velev, Shimich, Katsarov, Ariyash, Milanovich, Ali, Tonev, Kolev;
*Spas Delev was among the reserves for the champions at the beginning of the last 4 matches.
BEFORE THE MATCH
The champions are in fourth position with an asset of 30 points after 14 matches played. They last beat Slavia 2:0 after two goals from summer signing Kwadwo Dua.
Krumovgrad is 11th with 18 points. The team parted ways with Nemanja Milanović after several unsatisfactory performances and immediately appointed Stanislav Genchev. His debut was disappointing, after losing 0:1 to Spartak Varna in the 1/32-finals of the Bulgarian Cup.
Dermendzhiev’s alumni have no right to surprise, but in all likelihood they will save strength for the upcoming home of Fenerbahce on Thursday in the group stage of the Conference League.
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