League

Marakana
Spectators: 8500 (Terracing: 6376, Seating: 1955, VIP seats: 169) Hristofor Dundov started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. Zapryan Sachanski took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Sava Kitipov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. CSKA's Marcus Taffarel played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Vitomir Bandev in the 6th minute of play. Dobri Pipkov struck a weak shot in the 12th minute. Marcus Taffarel didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Цървена звезда. Цървена звезда's Dobri Pipkov got a good chance for a goal in the 14th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. After a defensive mix-up in CSKA's zone, Dobri Pipkov stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Marcus Taffarel came out of the goal and Dobri Pipkov tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. In the 19th minute, Adrian Drăgoescu hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. With a little luck, CSKA's Marcus Taffarel got control of the ball when Dobri Pipkov tried to sneak it across the goal line. Dobri Pipkov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 25th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Marcus Taffarel having to interfere. Dobri Pipkovs short, quick shot in the 27thth minute got Marcus Taffarel to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. The audience was convinced that Chudomir Popisakov's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Marcus Taffarel was relentless in the 37th minute of the game. Dobri Pipkov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 38th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Marcus Taffarel having to interfere. After having played for 43 minutes, Dobri Pipkov managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Цървена звезда's supporters crossed their fingers, but Dobri Pipkov was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 46th minute of the match, Chudomir Popisakov tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Marcus Taffarel saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Chudomir Popisakov was the one to do the kick off. Chudomir Popisakov recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 51st minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. After some careless play in the Цървена звезда defense, Tzoko Shotorov kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Zapryan Sachanski. The Цървена звезда fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Zapryan Sachanski should have stopped the shot. Sevdalin Lenov hit a great freekick 57 minutes into the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Hristofor Dundov in the 62nd minute of play forced Цървена звезда's goalkeeper Zapryan Sachanski to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Chudomir Popisakov in the 65th minute of play forced CSKA's goalkeeper Marcus Taffarel to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Marcus Taffarel took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Dobri Pipkov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Dobri Pipkov in the 72nd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Marcus Taffarel saved CSKA from getting behind. Zhivko Tekerlekov was in a good position and managed to take a shot, but he missed just to the outside of the post. After 74 played minutes Цървена звезда got a freekick which was hit by Zhivko Tekerlekov. After 84 played minutes CSKA got a freekick which was hit by Tzoko Shotorov. An unexpectedly hard shot by Bocho Tagarov in the 87th minute of play forced CSKA's goalkeeper Marcus Taffarel to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Zaaki Zakas kicked well hit freekick during the 90th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Chudomir Popisakov in the 95th minute of play forced CSKA's goalkeeper Marcus Taffarel to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The Цървена звезда fans had already started to leave before the final whistle blew. CSKA were clearly better and deserved to take the win.