The Arda (Kardzhali) team is another quarter-finalist in the Bulgarian Cup tournament. Alexander Tunchev's team secured a place among the top eight, defeating their regional rival Krumovgrad as a guest 2:0. The success was achieved after a precisely executed penalty by Chinonso Ofor in the 64th minute and a comical mistake by the home team's goalkeeper - Blagoy Makendzhiev, which led to the goal of Lachezar Kotev.
In general, the pace of play at Komatevo was extremely low. And while Arda had some desire to seek the ultimate success, the Krumovgrad team did not create anything of value in the front positions and deservedly had to swallow their elimination.
Arda played the coveted ten minutes of the tournament match with one less man, as Gustavo Cascardo received two yellow cards.
Similar to the Rhodope derby, which was played about ten days ago in the efbet League, the battle between Krumovgrad and Arda started at a not particularly high speed. The guests from Kardzhali were a bit ahead in attack, but experienced goalkeeper Makendzhiev prevented any dramatic moments in front of his goal.
In the 10th minute, Nasko Milev received a nice pass, but Anatoly Gospodinov managed to come out and catch the ball before the player who scored two goals for CSKA some time ago could finish.
Arda gave the first signs that they would seek victory in this match after a good position in the 13th minute. Then Cascardo crossed excellently for Ofor, but the striker's header did not find the goal.
Momchil Tsvetanov tried a learned combination when executing a static position in the 29th minute. However, his idea was not picked up by his teammate, and so the Krumovgrad team wasted a situation that would have threatened the guard of their regional opponent.
The seemingly peaceful match temporarily turned into a hot war zone after Junet Ali and Dimitar Velkovski grabbed each other by the throats in a duel around the center of the field. However, the quick intervention of the head referee prevented any battle scenes between the two camps.
To everyone's delight, something more interesting happened in this match about ten minutes into the second half. Ofor and Tonislav Yordanov made a quick exchange of passes, which allowed the ram to powerfully enter the penalty area. This forced the chasing Lazar Marin to commit a foul, for which referee Grebencharski pointed to the penalty. The responsible task was taken on by the victim, who easily scored for 0:1.
Arda could have quickly decided everything in the match, after about ten minutes after his first goal, Ofor could have scored a second. This time Makendzhiev was up to the task and turned out to be the last obstacle before new joy for the "sky blue".
And the little intrigue left in this match ended with the onset of the 76th minute. Lachezar Kotev made an adventurous shot from over 20 meters, which was clearly underestimated by the experienced Makendzhiev and turned into more than a comical goal to his detriment.
The match in the national Cup tournament ended in numerical inequality, after Gustavo Cascardo from Arda received a second yellow card from the main referee. Even this asset was not used by Krumovgrad to threaten the goal of Kardzhali.
The draw for the quarterfinals of the Bulgarian Cup will take place on December 18 (Wednesday) at 1:00 p.m.