An intriguing encounter with two twists ended the 2023/24 regular season in League One. In him CSKA managed to win their visit to Arda with 3:2. The graduates of Stamen Belchev forged the success after the break and ensured a symbolic hosting of Levski after only a week.
And today, Norwegians were among the heroes for the “reds”. The winning and last goal in the match was the work of Ulaus Skarshem, who in the 66th minute caught a good cross from the surprise team of CSKA – Seini Sanyang. The Gambian rarely starts and is involved in the game at all, but today he helped to score the first goal with the “red” shirt. Before that, Tobias Heinz leveled the score at 2:2 in the 57th minute with his sixth Premier League goal of the season.
The first 20 minutes of the match were striking – Jurgen Matei scored his first goal of the season in the 13th minute, while Borislav Tsonev and Stanislav Ivanov formed a lightning-quick turnaround with their goals in the 19th and 21st minutes. Thus, Arda failed to record the first victory in its history against CSKA.
The graduates of Stamen Belchev finished the regular season one point ahead of the third Black Sea (62 points) and as many as 12 behind the leader Ludogorets. This means that the “Eagles” will be able to guarantee Bulgaria’s record 13th consecutive title after a week with a victory. Here is CSKA’s schedule until the end of the First League season:
CSKA – Levski
Ludogorets – CSKA
CSKA – Krumovgrad
CSKA – Black Sea
Lokomotiv Plovdiv – CSKA
First half
GOAL! Jurgen Matej took 13 minutes to score his first goal of the current campaign. The Dutchman unperturbed headed the ball after a cross from a corner and capitalized on Vion’s good cross! 0:1!
GOAL! After a cross from the right flank, a goal was scored for the guests. Busato had to take the ball out of the net in 19′ when Matei failed to protect the opponent and Tsonev equalized – 1:1!
GOAL! After only 120 seconds, a second former player of Levski – Stanislav Ivanov, scored and formed the complete turnaround. The centre-forward capitalized on Busato’s imperfect clearance and Ivanov scored into an empty net for 2:1!
look VIDEO with Arda’s goals!
In the minutes to the end of the first part, the “armies” tried to look at the opponent’s goal, but the attempts remained unsuccessful. In the penalty area of Arda, the lack of a central striker to complete the dangerous attacks was more and more evident.
People from Phaeton to Heinz and even Marcelino Carreasso tried to play a similar role.
Second half-time
The match continued strongly with a very inaccurate attempt by El Mami, and Heinz responded with a stronger than necessary shot over the crossbar.
GOAL! Tobias Heinz scored the equalizer in 57′. After a static situation, the Norwegian made two shots – the first hit a rival player, and the second sent the ball into Gospodinov’s net – 2:2!
GOAL! CSKA created the second turnaround in the match through Ulaus Skarshem. The winter signing benefited from a great cross from Seini Sanyang, who duplicated Phaeton on the left flank. The full-back sent the high pass in 66′ and the Norwegian scored his second goal for the “Reds” – 2:3!
Starting lineups
Arda: 1. Gospodinov, 4. Stoev, 6. Krachunov, 9. Ofor, 10. Tsonev, 12. Okezie, 20. Lozev, 26. El Mami, 77. Yurukov, 80. Kotev, 99. Ivanov
CSKA: Bussato, Mattei, Mahmutovic, Sanyang, Vion, Scarshem, Yuga, Carreaso, Lindseth, Phaeton, Heinz;
*Hristiyan Petrov returns to the reserves.
Before the match
The rivals know each other well, and before he returned to the “Army” – the successor of El Maestro was with the Kardjalians. A few weeks ago, the teams met in the 1/4-finals of the Bulgarian Cup. The “Armies” won 1:0 with a goal by Yuga in the 18th minute.
Throughout the season, CSKA only lost visits to Ludogorets and Black Sea in the Bulgarian elite. In the fall, Arda drew 0:0 in Sofia, but in Kardzhali lost its last home game to the “reds” with 1:3.
At the moment, the “armies” are in a better series as guests than at home. They have three wins in a row, while Arda have a win, two draws and one loss in their last four home games.
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