The Bulgarian national football team for youth under 19s lost 1:2 to their peers from England in their second match from group 3 in the first stage of the European Championship qualifiers, BTA reported.
At the “Lokomotiv“ stadium in Plovdiv, Todor Simov's selection played a very strong match and opened the scoring with a goal by Adrian Raichev in the fifth minute, but by the break the guests made a complete turnaround with goals by Ethan Nouanere and Lewis Orford. In the second half, the "lions" They pressed their opponent in search of an equalizer and Valentin Dotsev came close three times, with his shot hitting the post.
In the other match in the group, Belgium defeated Lithuania 4:1 in Stara Zagora. Thus, after two matches played, England leads the standings with a full asset of 6 points, Belgium is in second position with 4, and Bulgaria is in third place with 1 point.
The match started excellently for the “tricolor“, who took the lead in the score in the fifth minute after a magnificent individual breakthrough by Adrian Raichev. He received in the center of the field, advanced between three opposing players to the edge of the penalty area and with a measured diagonal shot beat Tommy Setford for 1:0.
In the 25th minute, the guests could have equalized. Ivaylo Videv made a mistake with his attempt to pass back to the goalkeeper, which allowed Ethan Whately to go out alone against Kehayov and try to pass him, but the Bulgarian keeper threw himself at his feet and did not allow him to be overcome.
Two minutes later, however, England still restored parity. Arsenal's Ethan Nouanere was left to take control on the edge of the penalty area and scored with a precise shot into the bottom left corner to make it 1:1.
In the 43rd minute, Samuel Amo-Ameyaw tried a powerful shot from distance, which fell straight into the hands of Atanas Kehayov.
At the very end of the first half, the guests made a complete turnaround. The Bulgarian team's goalkeeper reacted well to another long-range shot by Amo-Ameyaw, but after reflecting, the ball met the body of Lewis Orford and entered the empty goal.
At the start of the second half, Ethan Whately got behind the Bulgarian defense and tried to pass Kehaynov, but over the crossbar. The "Lions" responded with a dangerous attack in the 55th minute, in which David Mihalev found himself in a shooting position in the penalty area and tried a shot on the diagonal, which went wide of the target.
The Bulgarian team pressed, and several times Todor Simov's students were extremely close to scoring. In the 66th minute, substitute Valentin Yotov broke through from the left and crossed to the uncovered Valentin Dotsev, who shot from close range, but the ball was cleared by Jayden Megoma just in front of the goal line.
In the 77th minute, Dotsev again had a great chance to score. Kaymakanov passed accurately from the left and Valentin Dotsev intercepted with a powerful shot that bounced off the body of a defender. The "Tricolors" had claims for a handball, but the main referee let the game continue.
Five minutes later, luck was not on the Bulgarian midfielder's side again. He received a cross from the left again in the penalty area, had time to control it and shoot, but the ball bounced off the post. Thus, despite their strong play in the second half, Bulgaria failed to reach the point.
In their last third match of the group, Todor Simov's students face the Lithuanian team on Tuesday at 2:00 PM at the “Beroe“ stadium in Stara Zagora.