The head coach of Botev (Plovdiv), Bruno Baltazar, was unhappy with the draw with Lokomotiv. The Canaries coach expressed regret that his team did not take the full set of points.
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Botev and Lokomotiv finished 1:1 in the Plovdiv derby. The meeting of the 24th round of the First League was played in front of the crowded stands of the “Botev 1912 Football Complex”.
The two teams did not live up to the expectations of a spectacle, with the match being more of a battle and needing more goal positions. During the first part, cleaner conditions were revealed to the guests.
The Portuguese paid attention to the performance of the fans yesterday and today and hinted at a positive change in the team.
During the interview after the game, he said, “Equality is very disappointing. We know football is not a fair sport. Well, we dropped two points. We are very disappointed”.
“We are happy that we gave our best in the match. We worked so hard, and all this cost us dearly for a moment of loss of concentration”.
Baltazar also commented that the yellow blacks have a difficult season. “When we work so hard, all season long, not just today, we exclude for a moment. Only one team could have won with all my respect for them,” he added.
The Canaries coach appreciates for smart strategies of Locomotiv. He emphasises that Football is not very fair. It would be best to stay focused until the last referee signal and not allow such easy goals. It was the result of errors made during defending.
Head Coach Baltazar also mentioned that Some young footballers are taking their first steps in professional Football and the Club.
“We’re growing with this new group. We need more concentration at key moments. They have experienced players; they are ahead in the rankings and were waiting. Individual quality proved to be crucial”, said the Canaries coach.
He outlined that Derbies are always special, as Baltazar has this experience, especially from Cyprus. Appreciating the attendees, he stated that the atmosphere was great and that what the fans did to support their club yesterday was phenomenal.
“This club is huge. I cannot wait to play at the new stadium and take this victory there,” the Botev coach continued.
In the first minutes, the “black and whites” sent two inaccurate strikes, and in the 26th minute, a dangerous shot by Mateus Da Silva stopped outside Argilashki’s net. In the 30th minute, Minkov’s strike was saved without problems by Horkash.
In the 81st minute, Dylan Mertens made a fantastic pass to Antoine Baroan. The Frenchman drove the ball past Horkash and scored 1:0, blowing up the stands at Komatevo base.
However, the joy of the Canaries was extremely short, and Jasper Van Hertham had the misfortune of scoring an own goal. Tochukwu Nnadi lost a duel in Botev’s half, followed Iliev’s pass to Karakashev, and sent a punch, and in his attempt to clear, Van Hertham sent the ball into his own door.
By the end of the match, the two teams failed to create a danger to Argilashki and Horkash and divided the points.