Vihren took all three points from their trip to Spartak Pleven on Saturday evening, winning 2-0 in the Bulgarian Second League's Regular Season round 6. The match at 17:00 on August 30th ended with the visitors maintaining their perfect record of not losing any of their first six fixtures.
And here's the thing about this game — it was effectively over before most people had settled in. Spartak Pleven went down to ten men at the 9th minute and never really recovered. By then the hosts were already playing catch-up, and the rest of the match just confirmed what was becoming obvious.
The visitors finally broke through in the 48th minute, taking advantage of the numerical superiority they'd enjoyed for over an hour. To be fair, Spartak Pleven had been under pressure for most of the first half, but the red card turned sustained pressure into something more dangerous.
A second goal at 62 minutes sealed the result properly. Vihren were on a good run coming into this fixture, and this victory extended that unbeaten streak to six matches. The away side had drawn three and won three so far, and this win moved them further clear at the top of the table.
The statistics tell the story of a one-sided encounter. Vihren dominated with 56 per cent possession compared to Spartak Pleven's 44, and they registered six shots on target against zero for the hosts. The visitors also completed 139 attacks to Spartak Pleven's 102, though the difference in conversion rate was stark.
So now Vihren sit second on 12 points after six games, while Spartak Pleven drop further down to 13th place with just seven points from their six matches. The gap between them is widening, and for the hosts, it's becoming increasingly clear that survival will require a significant change in fortunes.