Ludogorets beat Qarabag 2:1 in Baku

Ludogorets are one step closer to the play-offs of the Champions League, where they await Dinamo Zagreb, after achieving a very sweet win - 2:1 away from last season's Europa League round of 16 finalist Qarabag. The match was one of the strongest away games for the Eagles in recent seasons and definitely everyone in Razgrad deserves praise for the excellent game.

The big news, Sergio Padt was not in Dermendzhiev's squad, who was replaced by Hendrik Bonnman. In defense, Aslack Von Witry was replaced by the two-goal scorer of Arda Son. Ivaylo Chochev and Todor Nedelev were absent from the midfield, they were replaced by Deroy Duarte and Pedro Naressi. A big sensation was the absence of Rick, replaced by Caio Vidal. As expected, Kwadwo Duah led the attack.

The match started strongly for the hosts, who pressed early. Thus, already in the 2nd minute, Yankovic shot at the goal, but Dinis Almeida blocked his good shot. In the 9th minute, Vesovic shot hard, but inaccurately. Leandro Andrade also tried his crosshairs, but he didn't trouble Bonnman either. In the 18th minute, Qarabag got a goal with Mustafazade's header. Logically, the hit was due to an offside.

In the 33rd minute, Ludogorets had a good opportunity. The goalkeeper Buntic did not intervene well and the ball went to Duah, who shot very inaccurately with his left foot.

Already in the first seconds of the second half, Ludogorets made a good attack, with Son finding Tekpetey well uncovered at the penalty spot, but he shot very poorly. Two dangerous situations in front of Bonnman followed. First he saved Juninho's shot, then Verdon blocked Benzia's execution.

In the 55th minute, Ludogorets made a huge mistake. Caio Vidal headed in, Buntic saved but the ball hit the crossbar then went to Tekpetey. At the completely empty goal, against the laws of physics, the Ghanaian missed. A foul followed on the right side of the Eagles attack. Son put the ball on Dinis Almeida's head, who literally gave Buntic no chance - 1:0 for the people of Razgrad.

After an hour of play, the guests received very bad news. Tekpetey was injured in a duel and was carried out on a stretcher. At first glance, the Ghanaian's injury looks very serious.

Qarabag equalized in the 65th minute. After a cross from the right, Benzia shot, Bonnman shot, but right at the feet of Juninho, who could not make a mistake - 1:1. The hit was seen for a long time as an offside, but eventually it was recognized.

In the 76th minute, Caio Vidal had an opportunity to shoot, but it was not accurate. A poor intervention by Hendrik Bonnman followed, but Kevin Medina was unable to hit the target. Ten minutes later, Duah failed to score, but Caio Vidal did. Son gave another wonderful assist and the Brazilian could not miss with a header - 2:1 for Ludogorets. Shortly after, Caio Vidal stepped on the feet of a Qarabag player and received his second yellow card of the game. Thus, in the last minutes, the Bulgarian team played with 10 people.

In the final minutes, the Azerbaijanis pressed hard, but Bonnman was in his place.