Armstrong Oko-Flex scored a goal and created a second, and Levski ended its winter camp in Turkey with a 2:1 success against the Slovak Trencin. This was the first victory for the leaders in the standings of the Bulgarian football championship in Belek, as so far they had two 0:0 draws and a 1:2 defeat against the Serbian Vojvodiha, BTA reported.
Trencin took the lead in the fourth minute of the match on a counterattack, in which Dylan Kam scored on an empty net, but in the rest of the first half the new addition to the "blues" Armstrong Oko-Flex shone. The Irishman arrived at Levski just 11 days ago on a transfer from Botev (Plovdiv) for 300 thousand euros.
Oko-Flex equalized the score in the 23rd minute when he received a pass from Akram Buras, feinted the last defender and put the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper Andrija Katic. At the end of the half, Levski created a similar situation, but this time the goalkeeper fouled Oko-Flex in the penalty area and Everton Bala scored from the penalty spot for 2:1 in favor of the "blues".
Levski outplayed Trencin in the second half, in which head coach Julio Velasquez left his starters in the game for a long time. "Blues" were very close to scoring after an hour of play, but first a Trencin player cleared Everton Bala's shot from the goal line, then Akram Buras missed from close range.
In the 72nd minute, reserve Fabio Lima failed to score alone against the Trencin goalkeeper, and so the match ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of the "blues". Their next match, the last one for the winter training, is against Vihren (Sandanski) on January 28 at the "Georgi Asparuhov" stadium.
Levski played with a clear idea with the ball and in defense, said head coach Julio Velasquez after the "blues" won 2:1 against the Slovak Trencin in their last match from the training camp in Turkey. Armstrong Oko-Flex scored the first goal for the team, and Everton Bala scored the winning goal.
"I saw a lot of interesting things. We played with a clear idea with the ball and in defense. Trencin played much more openly than Zaglebie, they came out in front positions. I liked how we overcame the opponent's first line and the players' decisions. The truth is that we didn't start very well and they put us on a counterattack, but the team responded well," Velasquez told Levski TV.
"We created a lot of chances in front of their goal, and the referees called controversial offsides a few times, but we managed to score twice. However, we had to be more convincing in the final phase. The boys put in the effort again, as they have done every day so far," continued Levski's coach.
"We came to Turkey in good condition and all that was left was to achieve a game rhythm. I think we improved a lot of things and raised our level during these three weeks," he also said and revealed that Mustafa Sangare was given a break because he has a slight problem.
Slavia lost 0:1 against Tobol Kostanay in their next friendly match from the camp in Antalya. The defeat is the first for the capital's team in the controls during the winter training.
Ivan Minchev, Kristiyan Balov twice and Yanis Germush failed to give the "whites" an advantage in the result. In the 37th minute, the team from Kazakhstan opened the scoring after a goal by Marat Damir. At the end of the first half, Tobol's defenders were lucky not to score an own goal.
Nine minutes after the break, Germush's goal was disallowed by the German referees due to a foul. Nine minutes before the end of the match, Levi Ntumba intervened decisively and prevented a second goal in Slavia's goal after a free kick. In the 88th minute, Emil Stoev received a red card for a foul on an opposing player. This is the second red card for the team from Sofia in two days. On Saturday, coach Ratko Dostanic's team drew 1:1 with Tikvesh Kavadarci.