Kirilov ensures Bulgaria bow out on high

Bulgaria completed their Group 10 programme by clinching third place with a 3-1 win in Luxembourg.

Mihail Madanski's team responded to Goncalo Almeida's second-minute opening strike by equalising through Ivaylo Chochev ten minutes later and then won the game thanks to two second-half goals by Radoslav Kirilov. Bulgaria's victory left them with 12 points from their eight fixtures, one shy of second-placed Scotland, while also ensuring that Luxembourg finished as one of three teams without a single point alongside Andorra and Liechtenstein.

It had looked like Luxembourg might claim something when Almeida profited from Aydine Correia's fine ball from the left, but a mistake by home goalkeeper Philippe Hahm allowed Ivaylo Chochev to score from Kirilov's cross. David Turpel should have added at least one goal to Luxembourg's tally but missed a close-range header before the break, then fired wide when clean through in the 68th minute.

By then Luxembourg were trailing to Kirilov's first goal three minutes after the restart, Bulgaria's No9 delivering a fine individual strike as he took the ball past Tom Siebenaler and David Veiga before beating Hahm. Then, moments after Turpel's second miss, Kirilov made sure of the points with his second goal. By the end only the post stopped him capping a fine evening with a hat-trick strike.