Bulgaria round-up: CSKA recover in style

Bulgarian giants PFC CSKA Sofia moved two points clear of PFC Litex Lovech in second place in the Bulgarian Professional League after a classy 3-1 win over sixth-placed PFC Slavia Sofia today.

Wonder strike
CSKA's top scorer, Vladimir Manchev, opened the scoring with an early goal in the ninth minute as he ran past three defenders, making no mistake when faced one-on-one with the keeper.

Ricard opportunity
Hamilton Ricard missed a chance to score on his debut for CSKA ten minutes later as the ball was nicked from his foot by a Slavia defender after a low cross on the right by Ibrahim Gueye.

Captain marvel
CSKA were truly dominating the play and it finally paid off in the 30th minute when defender and team captain Galin Ivanov magnificently struck a 25-metre free-kick into the right-hand corner of Slavia's goal.

Red card
Slavia defender Mihail Zahariev received a second yellow card and was sent off in the 70th minute for a professional foul and from the resulting free-kick, two CSKA players were pushed in the penalty area and Manchev converted the resulting penalty, his 16th league goal of the season. Georgi Vladimirov scored a consolation goal for Slavia, coolly converting a penalty in the second minute of injury time.