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Bulgarian champion Ludogorets suffered a nasty home loss to Belgian Antwerp 1: 2 in the opener of this year’s Europa League phase. In the 29th minute there was a controversial situation in which after a shot by Kiril Despodov the ball first touched the foot, then the hand of guest defender Richie De Laet, but the referee decided that a penalty should not be awarded.
At the beginning of the second half, Ichinio Marin broke Antwerp’s blockade on defense, finding the result. However, sixteen minutes later, Martin Hongla returned the parity to the visitors. The full return came in the 70th minute after a goal from Lior Rafaelov.
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Pavel Varba’s boys got off to a strong start after Alex Santana’s shot from the edge of the box hit the corner. The Belgian guests still managed to cope.
In the 7th minute, the hosts responded with a dangerous situation, in turn. After an error in the play by Cowley Oliveira, Lior Rafaelov managed to control the edge of the penalty area and shoot, but the shot was infinitely inaccurate.
Two minutes later, after a corner kick, guest central defender Dylan Batubinsika missed the ball from just a few yards. A minute later, there was an even greater possibility. Simen Uklerod advanced down the left wing and found Christian Benavente at the penalty spot, but his shot somehow went over Plamen Iliev’s gate, fortunately for Razgrad.
In the following minutes the stylistic opposition was clearly visible, as Ludogorets dominated the ball, but the guests created serious problems with their good press.
In minute 20 came the second serious situation of the match for the guests. After a phenomenal individual advance by Lior Rafaelov through midfield, the shooter fired a shot from a 20-meter movement, but the ball went very close to Plamen Iliev’s crossbar.
source: Anton Uzunov
Two minutes later, Simen Uklerod made two phenomenal crosses for midfielder Peter Gerkens, who was once discredited by a strong intervention from Iliev, and then missed the door. However, the pressure from the guests was terrible.
In the 29th minute, Kiril Despodov exploded with his first strong performance to create great tension in front of Antwerp’s gate. After a great advance in the Bulgarian wing, he fired, but after a rebound at the feet of a defender, the ball collided with the hand of Richie De Laet, but the referees decided that handball could not be avoided and avoided the situation.
In the 35th minute, the guests also made a serious mistake when bringing the ball. He fell at the feet of Iquinio Marín, who, however, had no support and shot hard, but a bit inaccurately, on Jean Butes’ door. Three minutes later, Despodov was found on the penalty spot, but his header went high enough above Iliev’s goal.
Two minutes after the start of the second half, like out of nowhere, Ludogorets took a precious advantage. After a quick play through the middle, the ball landed on Iquinio Marín, who with a great shot from distance shot Jean Butes 1: 0.
A minute later Cowley Oliveira turned well in the penalty area and with a solid shot he fired a bit to the sides of Plamen Iliev’s gate. Cowley repeated the drill in the 60th minute, but this time his shot was too imprecise.
In the 63rd minute, however, the guests managed to regain parity. After a good cross from Simen Yuklerod, Martin Hongla beat the Eagles defender at the near post and after a great header left Plamen Iliev no chances by 1: 1.
In the 67th minute, reserve Nana Ampuma tried her luck from about 20 meters, but the shot flew to the side. The pressure continued and the guests made 4 corner kicks in a few minutes, which, however, did not lead to a new goal.
In the 70th minute, Antwerp managed to turn a full turn after an extremely ridiculous mistake by Alex Santana. The midfielder tried to return the ball to Plamen Iliev, but the pass was infinitely short and guest star Lior Rafaelov punished this inaccuracy 2: 1.
In the 80th minute the guests had three great chances for a third goal. First, Nana Ampuma came out alone against Plamen Iliev, but the guard took a corner. After the corner kick, Koji Miosi found the ball excellently from the volley, but the Bulgarian point guard was again on top of everything. A few seconds later, Gerkens hit the crossbar with his head.
There were no serious new scoring situations at the end of the match, as the Bulgarian team had to accept a defeat in their debut match of the group stage of this year’s edition of the tournament.
Ludogorets – Antwerp 1: 2
1: 0 – Iquinio Marín (47)
1: 1 – Martin Hongla (63)
1: 2 – Lior Rafaelov (70)
Here are the lineups for both teams:
Ludogorets: Iliev, Cicinho, Verdon, Terziev, Nedyalkov, Badji, Santana, Yankov, Cowley Oliveira, Marin, Despodov;
Antwerp: Butes, Batubinsika, Gelin, De Laet, Yuclerod, Hogla, Harun, Gerkens, Mioshi, Rafaelov, Benavente
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