Ludogorets defeated Loko in Nadezhda

Ludogorets took advantage of the mistake made by Levski against Slavia and extended their lead to 10 points at the top after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Loko Sofia in Nadezhda.

The new striker, Antoine Baroan, who is on loan in Razgrad from Swiss club Winterthur, started in the starting lineup.

After just 20 seconds, Ante Aralica broke through the guests' defense, but his shot was weak. Anton Nedyalkov then had a chance, but he missed the target. Erick Marcus could have scored a beautiful goal in the 12th minute, but Lubev kept a close watch and saved his unexpected shot. Eight minutes later, Erick Marcus had a dangerous header following a cross from Deroy Duarte, and it can definitely be said that goalkeeper Lubev was lucky as the shot went off target. After that, Caio Vidal also had a strong shot, but it posed no problem for Lubev.

In the 29th minute, the "railwaymen" were reduced to 10 men. Celso Raposo deservedly received a second yellow card after first fouling Jakub Piotrowski harshly and then fouling Caio Vidal, which led to Georgi Kabakov sending him off.

Ludogorets took the lead very quickly after going one man up. Antoine Baroan scored his first goal for the "Eagles". Duarte delivered a low cross from the right, Lubev saved, but the ball went straight to the foot of the former Botev Plovdiv striker, who couldn't miss – 1:0 for the visitors. Ludogorets made a huge miss in the 39th minute when Caio Vidal dribbled past Galchev and made a great pass to Piotrowski, who, however, shot weakly.

A bad moment came at the end of the first half. Hendrik Bonmann and Anton Nedyalkov failed to communicate after a cross from Spas Delev, and the German accidentally hit the captain. A quick intervention from the medical team was required.

Ludogorets scored their second goal in the 53rd minute. After a cross from Aslak Fon Witry from a corner, Pedro Naressi headed the ball brilliantly and left no chance for Aleksandar Lubev – 2:0 for the "Eagles" Shortly after, Krasimir Stanoev could have brought the hosts back into the game, but his powerful shot was saved by Hendrik Bonmann.

Loko Sofia got back into the game in the 82nd minute. After a cross from substitute Juneit Ali on the right, Ante Aralica outjumped Aslak Fon Witry and sent the ball into Hendrik Bonmann's net – 1:2. Seconds before the end of the match, Emerson Rodrigues could have sealed the win, but when left one-on-one against Lubev, he failed to beat the goalkeeper.