Goals galore in Bulgarian Cup

There were goals in abundance as the big guns all came through their Bulgarian Cup quarter-final first-leg matches unscathed on Wednesday.

Litex ease through
Cup holders PFC Litex Lovech made a poor start at home to second division side PFC Dunav, falling behind to an Henrique own goal as early as the second minute. However, Litex managed to recover in style, with Brazilian striker Dede scoring five goals. Further strikes by Murad Hidiouede, Henrique and an own goal made the final score 8-1.

Levski in charge
PFC Levski Sofia's home game against second division PFC Rilski also proved to be relative stroll, as Biser Ivanov put the hosts 2-0 up inside the first five minutes. Gueorgui Bachev, Petar Kabat and Gueorgui Chilikov added further goals before Ivanov completed his hat-trick seven minutes from time to complete a 6-0 rout.

CSKA seal dramatic win
An under-strength PFC CSKA Sofia beat PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1-0 in what proved to be an action-packed encounter at the Lokomotiv stadium. CSKA had five first-team players missing for the game, with coach Luigi Simoni preferring to rest them ahead of Saturday's derby against arch-rivals Levski. Substitute Hristo Yanev scored the only goal of the game for CSKA three minutes into injury time after receiving a fine cross from striker Masena Moke.

Slavia held
In Wednesday's other match, PFC Marek and PFC Slavia Sofia drew 1-1 at the Slavia stadium. The visitors took the lead in the 18th minute through Georgi Vladimirov, before Marek midfield player Krassimir Dimitrov levelled the scores 18 minutes later.