Five-star Litex sink Atlantas

Bulgarians PFC Litex Lovech secured a five-goal success against Lithuanian side FK Atlantas in their UEFA Cup qualifying round first leg match with substitute Hristo Yovov having a hand in four of the goals.

Near miss
Litex dominated the first half and were well-worth their one-goal interval lead. The home side had almost taken the lead in the 12th minute, but Claudio Graf could not reach Anderson Gomes' pass one metre from the goal with the net at his mercy.

First-half lead
The first goal eventually came in the 28th minute through Kiril Nikolov from a 20-metre free-kick which the midfield player lofted into the top corner of the net past Simas Skinderis in the Atlantas goal.

Offside goal
Zhivko Zhelev and Anderson had also come close before the latter had a goal disallowed for offside in the 35th minute, when he knocked the ball into the net after Mourad Hidiouad's initial shot was parried into his path.

Litex impress
The pattern of the opening period was repeated in the second half, and Litex profited in the 58th minute when Stoytcho Stoilov headed substitute Hristo Yovov's free-kick home from close range. The two then combined in the 70th minute with Stoilov turning provider when he threaded the ball through to Yovov to score from five metres.

Yovov double
Within a minute Atanas Bornosouzov almost extended Litex's lead when he hit the post from Yovov's pass. But the Bulgarians did not have to wait long for their fourth as Stoilov stole possession in midfield to pass to Yovov on the left and he raced past the Atlantas defence and the stranded Skenderis to score.

Five-star performance
Substitute Desislav Roussev completed the scoring in the 80th minute when he turned the ball into the net after Skenderis had deflected Yovov's initial shot from Stoilov's pass into his path.