Cherno More achieved a valuable victory in the battle for fifth place in the First League, after winning 1:0 as a guest against Lokomotiv (Pd) in the first round of the playoffs in the second four. The only goal in the match fell in the added time of the first half, when Lukas Rijan scored an own goal. Thus, the "sailors" collected 47 points and overtook the "railroad players", who remain sixth with one less.
Early on, Vasil Panayotov missed a good opportunity for the guests, and shortly after, coach Ilian Iliev was forced to make an early substitution due to an injury to Dimitar Tonev. The home team also underwent changes due to injuries, with first Martin Ruskov and later captain Parviz Umarbaev leaving field.
In the 18th minute, Celso Sidney sent the ball into Lokomotiv's net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. The hosts responded with a shot by Catalin Itou, who, however, missed the target. The clearest chance for Plovdiv before the break came after a shot by Joel Zvarts, saved by goalkeeper Kristian Tomov, with the ball also hitting the post.
The decisive moment came in the second minute of added time in the first half, when, after a cross from Ertan Tombak, defender Lucas Riyan deflected the ball into his own goal for 0:1.
After the break, the pace dropped and clear chances were lacking. Georgi Chorbadzhiyski and David Telesh tried shots from distance, but without success. In the 83rd minute, Kristian Tomov saved a dangerous shot by Julian Lamy.
In added time, Lokomotiv had a chance to snatch a point, but Joel Zwartz failed to head a good cross and the victory remained for Varna.