CSKA Sofia II claimed a narrow victory over Cherno More 1919 Burgas in the Second League's fourth round on Monday, with R. Zhivkov's twenty-fifth-minute goal proving decisive in a match where the visitors capitalised on their chances. The result keeps the guests' push for promotion on track while leaving the hosts still searching for consistency at home.
Zhivkov opened the scoring from close range after a period of sustained pressure, and by then the visitors had already established a rhythm that Burgas struggled to disrupt. To be fair, the home side's possession numbers suggest they controlled territory, but when you watch a match rather than read a spreadsheet, you see that possession without penetration means little.
Discipline became an issue after the interval, with N. Zhelyazkov receiving a second yellow card in quick succession before being sent off in the sixty-eighth minute. Three yellow cards in a ten-minute spell around the hour mark changed the complexion of the game, and the home side were left chasing the match with fewer men.
The statistics tell a story of dominance without reward: Burgas registered 138 attacks compared to 101, held 57 per cent of possession, and took four shots on target alongside their visitors. But four shots on target for each side with a one-goal difference between them speaks to a match decided by moments rather than volume.
The visitors move to second place on 14 points from seven games, while the hosts remain seventh with 11 points and now face questions about their ability to close out results. A fourth straight win would have been ambitious, but this result extends their unbeaten run and keeps pressure on those above them.