A review of the match pitting Steaua Bucharest against Ludogorets Razgrad
Steaua Bucharest defeated Ludogorets in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.
Florin Orban, 20.08.2014, 13:16
20/08/2014
Romanian football team Steaua Bucharest is one step closer to the Champions League group phase after Tuesday’s night 1-nil win over visitors from Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria. Scoring for the team coached by Constantin Galca was Alexandru Chipciu on 88 minutes.
The two teams took no chances early into the game, with the hosts well on top in the first half and dominating the midfield. Steaua managed its first scoring chance on 35 minutes, when Lucian Sanmartean entered the penalty box only to be fouled by Yordan Minev. Felix Brych immediately pointed to the penalty spot. Alexandru Chipciu stepped up confidently to take the penalty kick, but it was denied by goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov who kept the score level. Frustrated following his miss, Alexandru Chipciu picked up a yellow card minutes later which rules him out of next week’s second leg to be played in Sofia.
Chipciu managed to redeem himself in the second half, with a couple of good scoring opportunities as well as scoring the only goal of the match with 2 minutes before full time. The return leg will be played in Sofia on August 27.
Let us now note the other results of the first leg of the Champions League playoffs. In Italy, Napoli held visiting side Athletic Bilbao to a 1-all draw. Besiktas held Arsenal London to a blank draw on home turf. In Salzburg, the local side Red Bull pulled a 2-1 win over Malmo of Sweden. And finally, in the last fixture, FC København lost narrowly 2-3 to Bayer Leverkusen.
Another five matches are to be played on Wednesday. Standard Liege will take on Zenit Sant Petersburg, Lille will play FC Porto, Maribor will go up against Celtic Glasgow, Alborg will play APOEL Nicosia while Slovan Bratislava will play BATE Borisov.
On Thursday, two Romanian teams will play in the Europa League playoffs. Petrolul from Ploiesti will take on Dinamo Zagreb, while Astra Giurgiu will play Olympique Lyonnais.
