Spartak (Varna) pulled off a dramatic 4:2 victory over Etar at the “Ivaylo“ stadium and qualified for the 1/8-finals of the Sesame Cup tournament of Bulgaria. The match offered great drama after the young “boyars“ led by two goals, but the elite team from Varna made an impressive turnaround in the last half hour of the match. With this success, the “falcons” became the last round of 16 in the competition.
Varna started more actively and in the opening minutes Zakaria Tindano and Tsvetelin Chunchukov missed good opportunities to open the score. In the middle of the first half, however, Etar scored his double. In the 24th minute, Georgi Alexandrov headed a cross from a corner kick and put the hosts ahead. Just a few minutes later, Chavdar Ivaylov found Martin Nikolov with a precise pass near the penalty spot, and the left-back coolly finished for 2:0.
The beginning of the second half continued to bring dangers in front of the visitors' goal, where Pedro Victor made a key double save after consecutive shots by Tsvetomir Tsanev, preventing a third goal.
The turnaround for Spartak began about half an hour before the end of regular time. In the 62nd minute, Zacaria Tindano brought out Jota Lopes with an excellent long pass, and the Portuguese released the ball into the near corner for 1:2.
The visitors' pressure intensified and in the 68th minute, parity was restored. Dimo Krastev controlled the ball in the penalty area and assisted with a heel to Chidera Okoh, who sent it into the net. For the Nigerian striker, playing on loan from Botev (Plovdiv), this was his first goal with the team from Varna.
The decisive moment came in the 80th minute, when Okoh rose above the defense when executing a corner kick and headed in his second goal of the match for 3:2.
The point of contention in added time was set by Angel Gomes, who took the ball from his own half, passed through two home defenders and with an elegant passing shot over Nikola Videnov made the final 4:2.