Botev Plovdiv Beats Spartak Varna 3-2 in Five-Goal Thriller Interrupted by Power Outage

Botev Plovdiv defeated Spartak Varna 3-2 in a fourth-round efbet Liga match at the Hristo Botev Stadium. The home side secured the win despite two separate power outages that disrupted play and a late comeback attempt by the visitors, according to reporting from Topsport.bg and Novsport.

Botev Plovdiv Goals and Scoring Timeline

Botev Plovdiv established a commanding lead in the first half, scoring three goals before the break. The opening goal arrived in the fifth minute when Franklin Mascote struck the crossbar; however, VAR confirmed the ball had fully crossed the goal line, according to Novsport. Asen Chandarov doubled the lead in the 28th minute, finishing a corner kick delivered by Carlos Meoti, Topsport.bg reported.

The home side extended their lead to 3-0 in the 39th minute. Samuel Kalu scored after receiving a long pass from Simeon Petrov, beating a defender and placing a diagonal shot into the upper left corner, according to Novsport. This result held through the end of the first half, which included seven minutes of added time to compensate for a power failure, Topsport.bg noted.

Spartak Varna Second Half Response

Spartak Varna attempted to recover in the second half, scoring two goals to narrow the gap. Tsvetelin Chunchukov scored in the 58th minute, converting a low cross from Tomas Silva, according to Topsport.bg. The visitors scored again in the 93rd minute when Ahmed Ahmedov finished a play initiated by Anton Ivanov, bringing the final score to 3-2, per Topsport.bg reporting.

Power Outages at Hristo Botev Stadium

The match was interrupted by two distinct electrical failures. The first occurred in the 14th minute, plunging the stadium into darkness for several seconds. Novsport reported that fans used their mobile phones to maintain the atmosphere during the blackout. Play resumed five minutes later after communications were restored, according to the same source.

A second power outage occurred in the 72nd minute, according to Topsport.bg. This disruption followed reports from Nova.bg and Plovdiv News that a larger electrical failure had left parts of the city of Plovdiv without power.

efbet Liga Standings and Context

Entering the match, the two teams were separated by three points in the temporary standings. Spartak Varna held seven points and remained undefeated at the start of the season after a 1-0 win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv, while Botev Plovdiv had four points following a home victory against Cherno More, according to Novsport.

Key Substitutions and Discipline

Botev Plovdiv made several tactical changes in the second half. Veliyan Vidolov replaced Carlos Meoti and Chidera Okoh replaced Franklin Mascote in the 62nd minute, according to Topsport.bg. Samuel Kalu was substituted for Edson Da Silva in the 91st minute after Kalu received a yellow card in the 86th minute, per Topsport.bg records.

Spartak Varna utilized their bench by bringing on Jose Neto for Tomas Silva and Anton Ivanov for Boubacar Hanne in the 67th minute, according to Topsport.bg. The match was officiated by referee Mihael Pavlov, as reported by Topsport.bg.