Moni Georgiev, "Tema sport":
The first part of the domestic championship was closed with the postponed Ludogorets' away game in Stara Zagora, won 4:0. Thanks to the defeat against Beroe, the Eagles have shortened the distance from the leader Levski and are hopeful that they can catch up with the Blues for an unprecedented 15th consecutive title in European club football.
However, does Ludogorets have a serious trump card in the fight for the trophy? Yes - their performance in the second halves of their matches!
Statistics show that in none of their 19 autumn championship matches have the Greens conceded more goals than they scored against their opponents after the break. Between the 46th minute and the final referee's signal, they conceded only 3 goals, while scoring 23! If points were awarded for performance in the second half, the hegemon would lead by 13 over Levski - 47 against 34. On the other hand, Ludogorets won only 7 of their first halves, drew in as many and lost 5, and the goal difference from them is 12:10.
Already in the 2nd round, Ludogorets escaped after the break against Botev Vr, albeit with an own goal in added time. In the 3rd round against Dobrudzha, they had to turn their home lead from 0:1 to 2:1, and after a hiccup at the break, the winning goal was scored by Joel Anderson (78). In the 2:1 victory over Botev Pd at the “Hyvepharma Arena“ in the 7th round, there was also a 1:1 draw at the break, so that the two teams were separated by a goal by Chochev (49). In the subsequent visit of Loko Pd, Katalin Itu put the hosts ahead early on, and Stanić saved the point in added time. The situation was similar against Spartak Vn in Razgrad in the 12th round - the opponent had a goal lead until the break through Shande (27), and again Stanic (50) pulled off a hat trick in the second half.
In the action against CSKA 1948 in Bistritsa, lost 4:5, the gap after the first half was 1:3. After the resumption of play, CSKA 1948 scored twice more to increase its lead to 5:1, but Ludogorets returned three goals and missed a penalty.
In the home game of Arda, lost 2:3, the guests had a goal lead at the break - 1:2, with the number of goals in the second half being equal.
And so we come to the last autumn home game - 1:1 against Slavia. Isaac Sole put the Whites ahead early on and the score remained 0:1 until halftime, with Chochev equalizing in the 64th minute.
The numbers show that there is no match in which Ludogorets performed worse after the break than before it.
In the first-second half ratio, Levski's performance seems much more balanced. The Blues have a virtual 35 points from the first halves and 34 from the second. One of their "losses" came against CSKA in the 15th round, when after a goalless first half, Eto'o unsealed Vutsov with a volley in the 76th minute. It is curious that the other two cases in which the Blues conceded more goals in the second 45 minutes than they scored were in victories. Both at “Gerena“, both with 2:1 and a 2:0 lead at half-time – against CSKA 1948 and Spartak Vn.
CSKA is also on the balance – 31 to 28 points, and the goal differences of the reds are similar – 13:7 goals in the first halves and 12:8 in the second.