levski 5 - 3 BUCKSTON (382580636)

Dark skies made the crowd of 63868 at samo levski Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Martin Heier was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Odomar Drache and Lesław Wendołowski. Everyone was excited about the upcoming Sofia derby and the crowd was divided evenly. levski had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Martí - Camozzini, Keskin, Jaunzems - Kuroś, Seguin, Ingelbeck, Casais, Eames - Roland Olsen, Cioffarelli.

BUCKSTON started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Parushev - Campos, Terziev, Nicholas - Fehér, Hannemann, Bonadona, Fluegel, Barbier - Grygier, Spasov.

The visiting N. Spasov was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 4 minutes into the game, after he broke through the middle and scored, resulting in the visitors taking the lead. 0 - 1 was the score. With clinical precision, the cross from winger I. Kuroś found its way to A. Roland Olsen's head, and a screaming header gave levski the goal after 5 minutes played. 1 - 1 BUCKSTON's N. Spasov managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 7 minutes. 1 - 2. With 8 minutes played, D. Casais of levski fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. K. Fehér could have put his team up another goal 18 minutes into the game, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. With the scoreboard showing that 27 minutes had been played, BUCKSTON nearly put themselves up another goal after N. Spasov came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the levski manager used a brief break in play after 30 minutes to give the players new directives. After 30 minutes, U. Camozzini sent the corner kick right to A. Roland Olsen who headed it sharply past the keeper. 2 - 2! The home side put themselves ahead 3 - 2 after 31 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from A. Roland Olsen, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. This third goal completed a hattrick for A. Roland Olsen. The visitors didn't give in and, after 34 minutes, P. Grygier got through the home side's central line of defence, rolling in the equaliser to make it 3 - 3. BUCKSTON's K. Fehér got himself booked for a foul. It was 3 - 3 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to levski, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

The coach of levski wanted to try to change things around after 46 minutes, and gave new tactical instructions. With the match clock at 46 minutes, levski modified their style of play a little bit. After a fine move down the middle D. Cioffarelli nearly gave the home side a goal after 47 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. levski had a good opportunity to take the lead as O. Keskin came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of I. Parushev. F. Fluegel had a good try after 59 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. levski broke through on the left 60 minutes into the game, with R. Jaunzems firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 4 - 3 lead. 67 minutes in, levski's J. Eames received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A loud groan was heard from the fans of BUCKSTON, as P. Campos left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. B. Apáti took his place on the field. BUCKSTON's right side looked dangerous 76 minutes in, but D. Martí made a good save on N. Spasov's hard shot to the top corner. 80 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as O. Keskin broke through, making the score 5 - 3 for levski. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by levski, with 52 percent of the ball.

levski's top performer was clearly A. Roland Olsen. D. Martí turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important BUCKSTON player was N. Spasov. I. Nicholas was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 3.