BG 1 - 4 BOTEV (382590756)

41964 fans braved the pouring rain at Стадион Пловдив. Benjamin Jacobs was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Cedric Lindhout and Jonathan Chevallereau. People from all over Plovdiv had joined up for the derby. BG decided to use a 5-4-1 set up. Lineup: Tiryaki - Balenziaga, Abánades, Azarpanah, Söht, Pérez - Madev, Krinizky, Zatezalo, Ćirić - Hunalp.

BOTEV started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Sokolov - Tardelli, Bernier, Călin - Torrea, Mareich, Altamirano, Sachkov, Bethencourt - Refaelov, Biçici.

BG took a creative approach on the field. BOTEV were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. BOTEV's İ. Biçici managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 3 minutes. 0 - 1. BOTEV increased their lead after 13 minutes when C. Mareich broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 2, much to the home crowd's dismay. After this, you could see that the players of BOTEV were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. D. Zatezalo was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, BG's F. Azarpanah managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 1 - 2 With 19 minutes played, BOTEV put themselves up 1 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was J. Bernier. A. Călin received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 20 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. Players in BOTEV heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. U. Tiryaki got a fingertip on S. Refaelov's shot from the left 24 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. It was 1 - 3 at the break. BOTEV enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

62 minutes into the game, BG seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to passable. The home crowd was not impressed when A. Sachkov came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 65 minutes. BOTEV were now up 1 - 4. After 74 minutes, the defensive line of BG created a counterattack through the middle that gave K. Hunalp a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. 80 minutes into the game, BOTEV worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch. BOTEV claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

Most important BG player was K. Hunalp. On the other hand, F. Azarpanah's play was disheartening. BOTEV's top performer was clearly C. Mareich. F. Bethencourt was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 4.