In an intriguing and dramatic match from the 8th round of the efbet League, Ludogorets Razgrad won 2:1 over Lokomotiv Sofia as a guest at the “Lokomotiv“ stadium in the capital's “Nadezhda“ district. The second half offered VAR interventions and breathtaking moments for Bulgarian football fans.
The match started off in a whirlwind for the champions. Already in the 4th minute, the national Ivaylo Chochev opened the scoring for the guests after an assist from young Aleksandar Marinov. Just two minutes later, the Razgrad team was given the right to take a penalty after a VAR review, but Petar Stanic's penalty kick was saved by the “railwaymen“ goalkeeper Aleksandar Lyubenov.
The hosts from Lokomotiv Sofia did not become easy prey and reacted in the 29th minute. Then Kaue Caruso equalized for 1:1 after a pass from Erol Dost, exploding the stands in Nadezhda. With this result, both teams retired for a break.
The second half became a real benefit of the VAR system. In the 55th minute, the experienced Spas Delev sent the ball into the net of Hendrik Bonman for a complete turnaround, but after a long review Spas Delev's goal was disallowed due to a foul committed by Angel Lyaskov against Caio Vidal in the build-up to the attack.
In the 75th minute, the class of the “eagles“ spoke its mind. Again Ivaylo Chochev was in the right position and scored his second goal of the match, making it 2:1 in favor of the guests from Razgrad. With this success, Ludogorets collected 20 points, while Lokomotiv Sofia remains in the bottom half of the table, still looking for their first win of the season.