Ludogorets became the champion of Bulgaria for the 13th time in a row after defeating CSKA 3:1 at home in the derby of the 32nd round of the First League. In front of their fans in Razgrad, the "eagles" proved that they are once again without competition in Bulgaria and beat the "reds" to celebrate with the gold medals.
Ludogorets needed a point at the Huevefarma Arena to seal the title, and Georgi Dermendzhiev's men got off to a flying start and took the lead in the second minute when Kwadwo Dua received the ball in the box from Bernard Tekpetei and beat Gustavo Busato with ground strike. In the 34th minute, the referee Volen Chinkov showed a direct red card to Brian Cordoba for a hit in the face of a rival player, but after the intervention of the VAR and consultation with the touchline screen, he correctly reduced the punishment to a yellow card.
Immediately afterwards, the Reds equalized through centre-forward Fernando Karanga, who took advantage of a misjudged clearance by Ludogorets goalkeeper Sergio Padt and coolly slotted home from long range.
A few minutes after the break, the captain of Razgrad Anton Nedyalkov, who missed a large part of the season due to injury, gave his team a new lead. He did so with a great shot on the diagonal that left Busato no chance. In the 58th minute, Chinkov awarded a penalty to the hosts for Karanga's handball in the penalty area, and Dua easily converted from the penalty spot for 3:1.
While celebrating the goal, Dua got into a conflict with Busato that led to a mass melee involving most of the players. In the scuffle, Karanga punched Son in the face and was knocked to the ground by Tekpetei. Karanga and Tekpetei received red cards, while Dua and Amos Yuga were booked in yellow.
No more goals were scored until the end of the match and Ludogorets defeated CSKA for the third time in the season to continue its historic dominance in the Bulgarian championship, while for the "reds" until the end of the season the battle with Black Sea remains for the second position, which guarantees participation in Conference League next season. /BGNES
