Neftochimic is currently in 15th place with 4 points, although the team has a game in hand following their 2-4 defeat to Sozopol. The Matchday 6 fixture of the South-East Third League, held at the stadium in Balgarovo, left the "sheiks" with a bitter taste, as they controlled the game for the first half hour, taking a two-goal lead before the tide turned against the Burgas club.
The match began with a strong start for the "greens". In the 10th minute, Hristo Georgiev received the ball in the penalty area and opened the scoring with a powerful shot, and after half an hour of play, Ventzi Slavov doubled the lead to 2-0 following an excellent multi-pass attack. The visitors even had a chance to extend their lead to three, but one Neftochimic forward missed a one-on-one opportunity against the goalkeeper. Sozopol's response was swift: in the 40th minute, Glen Habimana headed in a cross, and just before halftime, Stoyan Kizhev leveled the score at 2-2 with a precise low shot.
The turning point came just 3 minutes into the second half. The referee issued a controversial second yellow card to Kosta Dalev following a tackle where the player touched the ball, leaving the visitors with 10 men. Taking advantage of the numerical superiority, Petar Kyumurdzhiev's squad asserted their dominance and completed the comeback. The final 4-2 scoreline was sealed by an attractive bicycle kick from Dimitar Nikolov and Glen Habimana's second goal of the match.
As of now, the league standings look like this:
- Sozopol is in 8th place with 9 points.
- Neftochimic sits in 15th place with 4 points and a game in hand.
Both teams have further challenges ahead in the championship. On September 19, the "sheiks" will look to change their fortunes in their home match against Zagorets, while a day later, the "sky blues" will travel to face Botev II in Plovdiv.