Bulgaria Edges Northern Ireland with First-Half Goal
Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Bulgaria secured a 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland in a UEFA Nations League match played at Stadion Hristo Botev. The only goal of the match came in the 40th minute through Kiril Despodov, who finished off a pass from Aleksandar Kolev to put the Bulgarians ahead.
Despite enjoying more possession (52% to 48%), Northern Ireland struggled to break down the Bulgarian defense. A lack of attacking potency and a strong Bulgarian defense proved decisive in the home side’s victory.
Northern Ireland endured a frustrating encounter, collecting a total of four yellow cards, the final one going to T. Hume in the 81st minute. Bulgaria also picked up three yellow cards, including one for F. Nurnberger in the 90th minute.
Substitutions northern ireland: at minute 59 S. Lavery came in and D. Charles went out., at minute 73 P. Smyth came in and G. Saville went out., at minute 73 C. Marshall came in and P. McNair went out., at minute 82 A. McCann came in and I. Price went out., at minute 83 R. McCausland came in and T. Hume went out.
Substitutions bulgaria: at minute 63 A. Ahmedov came in and A. Kolev went out., at minute 72 Z. Dimitrov came in and R. Kirilov went out., at minute 72 V. Panayotov came in and M. Minchev went out., at minute 78 S. Ivanov came in and K. Despodov went out., at minute 78 S. Petrov came in and G. Kostadinov went out.
The teams lined up as follows:
Bulgaria
Titulares:
Northern Ireland
Titulares:
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