Bulgaria suffered a heavy defeat 0:3 when visiting Iceland in a match from Group 4 of League C in the League of Nations. The match was held at the “Laugardalsvöllur“ stadium in Reykjavik, and the hosts decided the match with two goals by Ori Oscarsson and a goal by Mikael Elertsson.
The Bulgarian team had a chance to take the lead in the 27th minute. Dimitar Velkovski found Lukas Petkov with a long pass, who knocked the ball to Atanas Iliev. However, the striker failed to hit a shot from a good position and sent the ball high over the goal.
Just three minutes later, Daniel Naumov had to intervene after a powerful shot from distance by Andri Baldursson.
Iceland opened the scoring in the 37th minute. Hákon Arnar Haraldsson brought Ori Oscarsson behind the Bulgarian defense, and the striker demonstrated composure and with a precise shot into the far corner made it 1:0.
At the end of the first half, Bulgaria missed a good opportunity to equalize. Georgi Rusev took advantage of a mistake in the Icelandic defense and took the ball away, but instead of passing to the uncovered Atanas Iliev, he decided to shoot. Goalkeeper Valdimarsson, however, managed to clear it for a corner.
Unpleasant news for the coach was that Lukas Petkov and Dimitar Velkovski received yellow cards. This was the second official warning for the two in the tournament and they will miss the next away game in Luxembourg.
After the break, Iceland continued to be the more dangerous team. In the 53rd minute, after a mistake by Rusev, Torstehnsoy broke into the penalty area and found Oscarsson, but the striker was unable to hit the goal from close range.
Seven minutes later, however, Oscarsson made no mistake. Mikael Andersson found him with an excellent pass, and the Real Sociedad striker finished the attack with a precise shot for 2:0.
In the 82nd minute, the hosts were awarded a penalty after Atanas Iliev played with his hand in the penalty area. Oscarsson stood behind the ball with the opportunity to form his hat-trick, but Daniel Naumov figured out the direction and saved the shot.
However, Bulgaria was never able to get back into the match. In the last minute of regular time, Oscarsson brought Mikael Elertsson alone against Naumov, and he scored with a precise shot to make it 3:0.
In the second half, our national team created very little in the forward positions. The Iceland goalkeeper had to intervene only when Marin Petkov's long-range shot was blocked, which did not seriously hinder him.
After the defeat, Bulgaria remains in last place in the group with only one point won. Iceland is in the lead with 7 points.