After couple of misses, Ludogorets won against Loko (Plovdiv)

Ludogorets made a bunch of mistakes, but still beat Loko Pd - 1:0, with which the Eagles enter the big derby, which is on May 20 in Razgrad, as leaders with one point more than CSKA. The only goal was scored by Todor Nedelev, who signed for the first time after his transfer from Botev.

The champions were without their suspended leader Kiril Despodov.

Ludogorets started the match very strongly. First, Igor Thiago was brought behind the defense of Loko Pd and would, but Ilko Pirgov made an impressive save. Two disallowed goals from Caio Vidal followed. In both cases, they were canceled because of an offfside. First, it was the Brazilian winger, and then the assistant Igor Thiago, who was a few centimeters in an irregular position.

In the 17th minute, Gustavo Nonato tried his aim and hit the goal, but Ilko Pirgov was careful. In the 24th minute, Nonato was again in the center of events. He could have scored a very beautiful goal, but it would have been over the goal. Another huge opportunity for Igor Thiago followed, but this time the Brazilian goalscorer would go over the goal.

The logical thing happened in the 42nd minute and the Eagles took the lead. The first goal for the Ludogorets team was scored by Todor Nedelev. Igor Thiago received with his back to the goal, beat Jorge Segura and passed to the symbol of Botev Pd, who broke into the penalty area, eliminated Ilko Pirgov and with his right foot there was no way to make a mistake. This was also Nedelev's first goal in over a year, as he last scored on March 20, 2022 against CSKA.

Bernard Tekpetey could have sealed the game just seconds later, but his shot went over the bar. The second half started with a new situation for the Ghanaian, who attempted a pass to Thiago, but Jorge Segura prevented a clear goal with an excellent split. An absolute repetition of the situation followed. This time, Tekpetey's pass found Thiago, but he made one of the misses of the year, going wide from a few centimeters into the completely empty goal.

Ludogorets continued to press, but Ilko Pirgov and the defense in front of him stood firm. In the 68th minute, Aslak Von Witry fired a real projectile, which Pirgov, although difficult, still saved. Just 120 seconds later, Caio Vidal sent a fake shot towards the visitors' goal, but the ball missed by inches. It should be noted that this was Ilko Pirgov's 20th hit in the match.

In the 76th minute, Ludogorets was awarded a penalty. Loco Pd Mendoza's reserve was tackled by Caio Vidal and fell to the ground after light contact. Initially, the referee Volen Chinkov pointed to the penalty spot, but after reviewing it with the VAR monitor, the penalty was canceled, and Caio Vidal even received a yellow card for simulation. A curious situation followed, in which Ilko Pirgov went after Caio Vidal. The Brazilian overcame him and shot towards the goal, but missed the outline.

Late in the game, Babacar Dion could have scored, but his right-footed shot went over the crossbar.