Ludogorets lost to Levski - 1:2

Levski defeated Ludogorets 2:1 at "Gerena," thus delivering their first loss of the season. Igor Jovicevic made just one change to his lineup compared to the starting eleven that won the Super Cup with a 3:2 victory over Botev Plovdiv. The hero for "the Eagles" in that match, Ivaylo Chochev, started in place of Aguibou Camara, while Jakub Piotrowski once again played as a false nine. One of the two new signings, winger Emerson, was registered and started on the bench.

In the first 10 minutes, there were no interesting events in front of either goal, as the game was evenly matched. In the 19th minute, Deroy Duarte fired a powerful shot towards Matei Markovic's goal, but the goalkeeper was fortunate, and the ball missed the target. After that, Piotrowski played a good pass to Chochev, but Markovic wisely came out and caught the ball. In the 26th minute, the "Blues" had their first shot, which was blocked by Everton Bala. Two minutes later, there were doubts about a penalty in favor of Ludogorets after a tackle by Maicon on Erick Markus, but referee Radoslav Gidjenov did not point to the penalty spot, and he did not receive any signal from the VAR referee, Krasen Georgiev.

In the 33rd minute, El Djemili made a good pass to Mustafa Sangare, but he was blocked by Dinis Almeida. From the resulting corner, Levski scored a goal. Everton Bala crossed the ball to Christian Makun, who directed it toward Sergio Padt’s goal. Just before it crossed the goal line, it was tapped in by Javad El Djemili – 1:0! The goal was reviewed for offside on the scorer, but no offside was given.In the 43rd minute, Mustafa Sangaré could have scored a second goal after being set up by Everton Bala, but his powerful shot was saved by Sergio Padt. A curious situation occurred in injury time during the first half when Erick Markus was about to take a corner kick, but a laser light flashed in his eyes, causing him to delay the kick.

The second half began with a free-kick shot from Piotrowski, but it was inaccurate. In the 62nd minute, Levski made it 2:0! The goal was scored by Everton Bala. After a cleared ball forward, Mustafa Sangare fought off two Ludogorets defenders and passed it to the Brazilian, who fired a powerful shot into the net.Later, Everton Bala delivered a good cross, but Padt intervened just before Kostadinov could take a shot. From the ensuing corner, Tsunami headed the ball, but the Dutch goalkeeper was once again in the right position to make the save.

About ten minutes before the end, one of the new signings for Ludogorets, Emerson Rodriguez, appeared on the field. It was the Colombian who delivered a good cross to Chochev, but this time the Bulgarian international missed the target. Seconds later, the experienced midfielder fired with his left foot, and the ball brushed the post.

In added time, Ludogorets was awarded a penalty. Pedro Naressi headed the ball, and Tsunami handled it with his hand. Referee Radoslav Gidjenov initially did not award the penalty, but he was later called to the VAR monitor and changed his decision. Olivier Verdon stepped up to take the penalty and converted it perfectly, bringing the score to 2:1.