CSKA Sofia opened their First League campaign with a 5-0 victory over Botev Vratsa at the National Stadium Vasil Levski on Saturday. The hosts took three points from the fifth round of the regular season, running out comfortable winners against visitors who had struggled in recent weeks. And here's the thing — this was a emphatic response after sitting out the previous fixture.
J Zwarts was the early hero, striking twice in as many minutes to put CSKA ahead. The ten-minute spell from 12 to 13 minutes gave the home side a firm grip on proceedings. Panayotov doubled the advantage in the thirty-eighth minute before half-time, and Itu was then sent off for Botev in the forty-fifth minute plus five. By then the visitors were already on the back foot, and the red card effectively ended their hopes of a comeback.
Botev made two changes at the break, bringing on J Eto'o and J Gbamin, but the deficit was too great to overcome. Ivanov restored the three-goal cushion in the sixty-fifth minute, and Zwarts completed his hat-trick in the seventy-second. Godoy then added two more in quick succession, scoring in the seventy-ninth and eightieth minutes to seal a comprehensive victory.
The statistics tell an interesting story. Botev registered more attacks at 100 compared to CSKA's 79, and held a slight edge in possession at 52% to 48%. But the finishing was entirely one-sided: seven shots on target for the hosts against just two for the visitors. CSKA also won more corners at seven to five. To be fair, the red card changed the complexion of the game entirely.
CSKA Sofia move into fourth place with six games played — five wins, one draw, zero defeats, and 16 points. Botev Vratsa remain in tenth after eight matches with two wins, one draw and five defeats, accumulating just seven points. The hosts have been in fine form recently, bouncing back from that 1-3 defeat to Maccabi Tel-Aviv. This result keeps them in contention at the top of the table.