Slavia Sofia secured a 3-0 victory over Botev Vratsa in the Fourth round of the First League on August 10th. The away side controlled proceedings despite playing with superior possession for the hosts. By then, Botev had already lost their captain Ivan Goranov to a red card in the 70th minute.
R. Raychev opened the scoring in the 57th minute, giving Slavia the lead they would extend late on. V. Kazaldzhiev added a second goal in stoppage time to seal the result. To be fair, Botev had more attacking moves but failed to convert them.
Slavia took minimal risks with their chances. They recorded five shots on target across the match and scored twice from them. Botev had 131 attacks compared to Slavia's 91, yet only managed three shots on target. And here's the thing — possession statistics can sometimes mislead when the counter-attack works so effectively.
The red card for Goranov shifted the balance considerably. Botev were left to play the final 20 minutes with ten men. Slavia made six substitutions across the evening, bringing on fresh legs to manage the closing stages.
Slavia moved up to sixth place with ten points from eight games. Botev remain tenth on seven points after five defeats this season. The result extends Slavia's unbeaten run and leaves Botev needing points badly in their upcoming fixtures.