CSKAG 2 - 3 United (382596912)

The crowd of 27287 turning up at CSKAG Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Leonardo Behrend was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ilario Elkuch and Markku Hiidenkari. People from all over Blagoevgrad had joined up for the derby. CSKAG tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Siñeriz - Mihaylov, Ben, Collet, Fajardo - Niilonen, Sjöberg, Van Hoogten, Janasek, Popov - Eryalçın.

United decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Rossney - Allaire, Dilyanov, Abal - Siwczyński, Tyurkedzhiev, Milanov, Bozhilov, Hofmeyer - Tjäderlind, Hayot.

Today, United's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. With 12 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as L. Janasek flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. 28 minutes in, United's S. Abal received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The player down was L. Janasek. The CSKAG bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. It was obvious that United had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. A. Tjäderlind tied the game at 1 - 1 after 32 minutes, when he converted an incredible pass from the right. Some mind-boggling play by D. Bozhilov almost resulted in a goal for CSKAG, but Y. Popov's shot rebounded off the post. The visitors could have taken the lead from a free kick after 39 minutes, if it wasn't for the jaw-dropping save by N. Siñeriz. 1 - 1 was the halftime score. United enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

It was a bad day for the usually speedy D. Siwczyński. The mud seemed to slow him down. 57 minutes into the match, the visiting United made the score 1 - 2 after A. Tjäderlind executed a perfect free kick. Some fine movement on the left led to a United goal after 68 minutes, making it 1 - 3. M. Milanov was noted down as the scorer. K. Hofmeyer rose like a salmon, and was very close to scoring with a header after a corner, but sent the ball just over the bar. M. Eryalçın was able to knock home a free kick after 79 minutes to make the score 2 - 3. CSKAG had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

CSKAG's best player was L. Fajardo. However, M. Eryalçın made a disastrous appearance. Most important United player was T. Tyurkedzhiev. P. Rossney was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 3.