North Leeward Predators 3-1 SCSA Eagles – 2026 CFU Club Shield

July 24, 2026

The CFU Club Shield is a competiton organised by the Caribbean Football Union within CONCACAF as a second tier international competition, with the winners and the runners-up progressing to the first tier CONCACAF Caribbean Cup, from which three sides qualify for next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup.

This was the 9^th edition of the CFU Club Shield, which is traditionally played on one island each year, and this year the host was Trinidad and Tobago, with matches spread across three stadiums in Trinidad. Twenty-two islands had sent teams to the tournament, which was scheduled to be played between July 23^rd and August 2^nd on a knockout basis, with 6 preliminary round games being played before the round of 16.

Today’s game selected by Fatbear was a preliminary round match between the representatives of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Sint Marteen. The winners would play Metropolitan from Puerto Rico in the last 16.

The match was being played at the 10,000 capacity Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva in the West-Central region of the island, which has a grass pitch surrounded by an athletics track. The stadium is named after the former sprinter who won four medals in the Olympic Games, finishing 3^rd in both the 1996 Atlanta 100 & 200 metres, and third again in the 2000 Sydney 200 metres, but grabbed silver in the 100 metres. Boldon also won gold in the 200 metres in the 1997 World Championships in Athens, and followed that up with bronze and silver respectively in the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

 

Football In St Vincent And The Grenadines

St Vincent And The Grenadines ( SVG ) are currently 170^th in the FIFA World Rankings. In their qualification group for the 2026 World Cup, SVG managed to beat Anguilla ( H 6-0 ), but lost their other three matches, Suriname ( A 1-4 ), El Salvador ( H 0-2 ), Puerto Rico ( A 1-2 ).

Nearly all of the national team play their club football on the islands, with the most notable exception of forward Cornelius Stewart ( 80 caps, 27 goals ) who is now playing in Indonesia after a career which has included playing in Canada, Finland, The Maldives, India and Bangladesh.

Players from the English non-league to have been called up in the last year include Concord Rangers keeper Dondre Abraham ( 1 cap ), ex-Newport County, Torquay, Wrexham, Chelmsford City and now Billericay Town defender Jazzi Barnum-Bobb ( 8 caps ), Haywards Heath defender Joseph Barter, and Cheshunt defender Chevron McLean ( 6 caps ).

Perhaps the most widely known former SVG international in the UK would be striker Rodney Jack ( 45 caps, 23 goals ) who had a long career with Crewe Alexandra, Torquay United, Rushden & Diamonds and Oldham Athletic in the 1990s and 2000s.

SVG Domestic League

The top tier of the St Vincent And The Grenadines football is the Vincy Premier League, which consists of 10 teams who play each other twice for an 18 game season.

The first championship was contested in 1998/99 and Avenues United have won the most titles with four.

The 2024/25 championship was won by North Leeward Predators, who finished four points ahead of Hope International for their first title, which secured their place in this year’s CFU Club Shield. However, they failed to defend their title, finishing 4^th in the 2026 competition, 9 points behind System 3.

North Leeward Predators were formed in 2007 in the town of Chateaubelair and they would be the first side from SVG to compete in the CFU Club Shield.

The most recent SVG national squad included four North Leeward Predators players, namely keeper Samir Bristol ( 2 caps ), midfielder Diel Spring ( 34 caps ), who had played in the 4^th tier in Poland, midfielder Addeen Charles ( 13 caps ) and midfielder/winger Kirtney Franklyn ( 9 caps ).

Football In Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten is part of the Kingdom Of The Netherlands and is the southern part of the divided island of St Martin. Fatbear has enjoyed several holidays on the island.

However, Fatbear had never seen a game of football on the island, but did watch St Maarten play cricket against US Virgin Islands at the Carib Lumber Park in Philipsburg. These diaries also produced a report on a match between Anguilla and St Martin, the French side of the island, in 2023, which saw a side packed with players from the lower leagues in France storm to a convincing 6-0 win.

Neither St Martin or Sint Maarten are members of FIFA, and Sint Maarten’s application was rejected by FIFA in 2016. However, both nations play in CONCACAF competitions, playing in the CONCACAF Nations League and CONCACAF Series. Recent results for Sint Maarten had seen victories over Dominica and Belize, and draws with St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica.

Most of the players that represented Sint Maarten in the past year play in the lower leagues in the Netherlands but the players from SCSA Eagles called up in the past 12 months were keeper Chandro Wilkin and midfielder Neil Henderson.

The Sint Maarten Premier League had been contested since 2001, and SCSA Eagles have been the most successful, winning the last four editions. The league consists of six sides who play each other three times for a 15 game season. In 2025, SCSA Eagles won 14 of their 15 games, only dropping points in a 1-1 draw with Super Stars.

Social Cultural Sport Association Eagles were formed in 2019 and are based in Philipsburg. They had previously played three matches in the CFU Club Shield, but had lost all three of them, being beaten by BAYS of St Lucia, All Saints United from Antigua and Police from Trinidad and Tobago.

Matchday Information

The weather at the 11.00 kick-off ( 15.00 UK time ) was dry, overcast and 31 degrees, but the forecasted light rain stayed away.

The match was live streamed on the CFU official YouTube channel with an English commentary

The Predators were playing in all blue whilst the Eagles were in all yellow.

Referee was from Martinque, with assistants from Barbados and Guadeloupe.

Match Report

The first half-chance of the match came in the 4^th minute when Predators’ Franklyn robbed the sleeping Niomi Crooks and ran into the Eagles area, but the shot was weak and an easy pick up for keeper Wilkin.

Augusto Calvar appeared to the set-piece expert for the Eagles, but his first free-kick into the Predators’ box was easily headed away, whilst the next was chipped straight at the Predators’ keeper who had an easy catch.

Predators’ Deshad Simmons made a good run down left and Eagles’ Loxley Parker was forced to put the cross out for a corner. At the other end Eagles’ Aron Jones showed good skill on the left and was able to find striker Sandro Jacob with his pass, but the shot from 8 yards was blocked.

With 17 minutes on the clock, Calvar carelessly gave the ball away, enabling Simmons to run into the Eagles’ area but the left-footed effort went into side netting. Two minutes later keeper Wilkin need to be alert to dive on a through ball before Franklyn could get on the end of it

There didn’t seem to be much danger when Predator full-back Sydroy Bentick took a throw-in deep inside the Eagles’ half but his throw reached Koby Mingot inside the area, who easily turned past the statuesque Parker and stroked the ball left-footed into the centre of the goal as the keeper dived to his left in anticipation. 1-0 after 22 minutes.

The hydration break was immediately taken before Eagles could restart the game.

Eagles nearly scored a fluke equaliser in the 31^st minute. Parker overhit a free-kick from near to halfway and the ball floated into area. Keeper Bristol decided to leave it, but the ball struck the crossbar and centre-back Terrence Williams spared his keeper’s blushes and hoofed clear before any Eagles attacker could capitalise.

A minute later Crooks played a careless pass and Simmons should have made him pay, but his pass intended for Mingot was chronically under hit, and Eagles were able to clear.

Simmons again had a chance to create something, getting into a good position on right, but his ambitious through ball for Mingot rolled through to the keeper.

Three minutes before the interval a defence splitting ball by Kennijha Joseph released Simmons on the left to run in area, but shot was blocked by keeper Wilkin. Shortly after Mingot looked to run onto long ball but with the keeper in no-mans-land he slipped, just when he looked certain to score.

It remained 1-0 at the break and the Predators had looked much sharper but final pass was lacking in quality. The Eagles’ high defence line was easily being breeched and they had barely threatened going forward, apart from the long range free-kick misjudged by the Predators’ keeper.

The second half started in a lively fashion. Simmons made a good run and pass down the left. Franklyn dummied to leave Mingot clear 12 yards from goal. However, the striker dithered and Crooks took the ball away from him.

The Eagles counter-attacked, and although there was a suspicion of offside, the referee waved play on. D’Angelo Thompson ran into the area but his left footed shot was pushed into the side netting by the keeper.

Bristol flapped at the corner and Thompson’s snap-shot shot was blocked by Addeen Charles, and Predators’ cleared for a throw-in. When Eagles lost possession, Simmons played a ball down the left-hand channel but Eagles keeper Wilkin came out of his area to clear ahead of Mingot.

The game then took an unexpected turn when Eagles’ James Homere ran past three defenders on left and his ball into area took a deflection and then struck the arm of Durham. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and the replays showed it was an excellent decision. Khalid Tavernier stepped up and sent the ball into the top corner over the dive by Bristol. It was a super penalty taking the score to 1-1 after 52 minutes.

However, parity didn’t last for long as Spring sprung the Eagles’ offside trap with a smart pass. Franklyn ran into area, appeared to lose control but then recovered, and was able to turn and put the ball past the upright keeper. 2-1 after 57 minutes.

Almost from the restart, the Predators won possession on half-way, Simmons finally played an incisive through ball putting Spring clear. The Predators’ captain rounded the keeper and put the ball into the net from a narrow angle. 3-1 with 58 minutes played.

The finally 30 minutes of the game followed a pattern of Eagles huffing and puffing but unable to create much in the way of good chances, whilst the Predators squandered several chances breaking through the Eagles defensive line.

In the 64^th minute a lovely turn and pass by Mingot gave Spring the opportunity to run down the right wing, and although his cross into the penalty area was met by Franklyn, the volley went high over the bar from 10 yards.

Mingot then ran onto a ball down the right-hand touchline and played an inch perfect pass to tee-up Franklyn inside the Eagles’ area, but Wilkin made a good save to keep out the fierce drive.

After 74 minutes Mingot slipped again, but recovered to play a back-heel to put Simmonds clear, whose cross towards the far post pushed away by keeper, and Eagles were able to clear.

Calvar was able to deliver a free-kick into the Predators’ 6-yard box, and although keeper Bristol was unconvincing, the referee deemed he had been fouled and awarded a free-kick.

Predators should have added a fourth goal to their tally. Eagles again gave away the ball in defence and Joseph ran unopposed into the Eagles area. Rather than play a simple pass to give Franklyn a tap-in, he decided to chip the keeper, but the execution was awful and Wilkin grateful made the catch.

The last chance came three minutes from the scheduled end of the game, as Franklyn made a good run to just inside the Eagles area, but the left footed effort was well held by diving keeper.

Seven added minutes were played but the Predators comfortably maintained their two goal advantage to progress to the next round. Frankly, they should have won by a greater margin, and will probably need to be more clinical in their next game.

The game was played in a good spirit, and I can’t remember the last game watched when there wasn’t a yellow card !

North Leeward Predators : Bristol – Bentick, Williams, Chance, Durham – Simmons, Charles, Spring, Joseph – Franklyn, Mingot

SCSA Eagles : Wilkin – Wilson, Astrokarijo, Parker, Crooks –Tavernier, Homere, Calvar, Jones, Thompson – Jacob

 

Levski Sofia 1-0 Universitatea Craiova ( att : 16,118 ) - 2026/27 UEFA Champions League

July 22, 2026

This week saw the first legs of the Second Round of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League and Fatbear’s choice was the match between the champions of Bulgaria against the champions of Romania.

In the first round Levski eliminated Borac Banja Luka, the champions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 4-0 home victory in front of a near capacity crowd of 17,345 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg. Universitatea Craiova had won both games against Belarus champions Maxline Vitebsk, winning the first leg played in Hungary due to the sanctions against Belarus 4-1, and then eased through the second leg via a 1-0 home victory with 14,008 spectators in attendance.

This winners of this tie would play Omonia of Cyprus or Kairat Almaty from Kazakhstan in the Third Qualifying Round.

In the current UEFA coefficients, Bulgaria were 27^th whereas Romania were 20^th.

Football In Bulgaria

These diaries had previously prepared three previews/reviews of the Bulgarian Parva Liga in 2020, then wrote previews of Ludogorets’ European ties in Belarus in 2020 and 2021. A return to Bulgaria was long overdue !

Ludogorets run of 14 consecutive titles came to an end last season as Levski won their 27^th title, but their first since 2008/09, as they finished 14 points ahead of CSKA 1948 and Ludogorets. Levski’s average attendance was 10,017, the highest in the division.

For the 2026/27 season, the league has been reduced from 16 sides to 14, who will play each other twice for a 28 regular season. The top four will then form the Championship Group and play 6 more matches to determine the champions. Fifth to Eighth will form the Conference League Group, with the best placed side having a one-off game against 4^th in the Championship Group for a place in the UEFA Conference League.

The bottom 8 form the Relegation League, and the bottom side after the 7 additional games will be automatically relegated, whilst 2^nd and 3rd bottom play relegation/promotion play-offs against 2^nd and 3^rd in the Second League.

The new league season started last weekend, and is scheduled to finish at the end of May.

PFC Levski Sofia

Levski were formed in 1914 and were named after Vasil Levski, a Bulgarian revolutionary renowned as a national hero and who was sentenced to death by hanging by the Ottoman Empire in 1873.

Formerly the side of the Interior Ministry, Levski are known as the Blues or the Blue Avalanche. Home is the 17,688 capacity Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, named after the former international striker who played at the 1970 World Cup but was tragically killed in a car crash in 1971.

Levski reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup, in 1969/70, 1976/77 and 1986/87. They have twice also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, in 1975/76 and 2005/06. Levski have eliminated VFB Stuttgart and Glasgow Rangers from the European Cup, Boavista from the Cup Winners Cup, and Ajax, MSV Duisburg, Olympiakos, VFB Stuttgart, Dynamo Kiev in the UEFA Cup. Notable individual victories have also been registered over Barcelona, Lazio, Atletico Madrid, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon.

Levski started the defence of their league title with a 2-1 home win over newly promoted Dunav Ruse. Goals from captain Dimitrov and Algerian midfielder Akram Bouras had given Levski a 2-goal lead with around 20 minutes left to play, but after being on course for a routine victory, they were nervously hanging on after Dunav pulled one back with 5 minutes remaining. The game attracted a crowd of 11,000.

Levski Squad

Winger Everton Bala was the league’s top scorer last season with 18 goals and was one of three Brazilians in the Levski squad, alongside left-back Maicon and new signing Reinaldo, who scored twice in the win over Borac, and had played in Portugal for Alverca, Chaves and Santa Clara. Reinaldo reportedly cost €1.5M.

Other signings during the summer included Portuguese central midfielder Serginho for €1M, also from Santa Clara, Angolan forward David Kusso from Chaves for a reported €900K, Moroccan midfielder Mehdi Moubarik from UAE side Al-Ain, and Spanish left-back Alex Centelles joined from Almeria on a free transfer.

Irish Under 21 midfielder Armstrong Oxo-Flex might be known to some in the UK, having started his career at Celtic, before moving on to West Ham United, Swansea City, then FC Zurich.  Slovenian midfielder Gaspar Trdin played for Bravo and Radomlje in his homeland, right back Oliver Kamdem had 2 caps for Cameroon, and North Macedonian centre-back Nikola Serafimov ( 29 caps ) had played for two clubs in Hungary before joining Levski.

Forward Juan Perea was from Colombia, Venezuelan defender Christian Makoun ( 15 caps ) had played for Inter Miami, Charlotte, New England Revolution and Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, and Croatian centre-back Stipe Vulikic joined from Sampdoria having previously played for Perugia and Modena.

Only three Bulgarians featured in the win over Borac, centre-back and captain Kristian Dimitrov ( 24 caps ), who had a spell with Hajduk Split, keeper Svetoslav Vutsov ( 10 caps ) and forward Stivan Stoyanchov

Levski’s coach was Spaniard Julio Velazquez, who in the past had been in charge of Alaves, Villareal, Betis, Belenenses, Maritimo, Udinese, Fortuna Sittard and Real Zaragoza.

Football In Romania

These diaries have published 5 match reports and 6 match-day reviews/round-ups for Romania, with the most recent being in January 2025. However, Universitatea Craiova had not been featured in any match reports, although they had mentions in the 5 weekly round-ups.

The Romania SuperLiga consists of 16 sides who play each other home and away for a 30-game regular season. The top 6 form the Championship group, with the points won halved, for 10 further games. The top 2 and the Cup Winners take three of the four European places.

The bottom 10 form the Play-Out Round, with again the points being halved, and the bottom two sides are relegated. Third and fourth bottom will face two-legged play-offs against the sides finishing 3^rd and 4^th in Liga II.

The top two sides in the Play-Out Round have a one match play-off for the right to play the 4^th placed side in the Championship Group for the final remaining European spot.

Last season Universitatea Craiova finished 4 points ahead of Universitatea Cluj to win their 5^th title in their history, but the first one since 1990/91. CFR Cluj were a further three points behind, but 4^th placed Dinamo Bucharesti lost the play-off to FCSB, who had finished 7^th in the regular season, and had been 8^th after the Play-Out Round.

Craiova did the double, beating U Cluj on penalties in the Cup Final after a 0-0 draw, which was the 8^th time they had won the Cup.

Like Bulgaria, the new season started last weekend, and is also scheduled to finish at the end of May.

CS Universitatea Craiova

The club were initially founded in 1948 as part of the CSU Craiova Sports Organisation. Craiova, which is located 230km west of Bucharest, is the sixth largest city in Romania.

In 1991 the Craiova Sports Organisation dissolved it football organisation, ironically after the club had achieved a domestic double, and a new privatised club FC U Craiova was formed and took the place of CS Universitatea Craiova in the League. The new club ran into legal troubles in the early 2010s and were disaffiliated by the Romanian FA. Dissatisfied with the state of affairs the University reformed its football section and the new side were placed in Liga II.

Lengthy court battles then followed between the two Craiova clubs, similar to that of Steaua Bucharest and FCSB, over who was the legitimate successor to the history and records from 1948 to 1991, with the University arguing that they did not hand over any records and that FC U Craiova 1948 were actually a new club. In 2016 the courts agreed, and FC U Craiova 1948 are now in Liga III.

Home is the Ion Oblemeco Stadium which was renovated in 2017 and now has a capacity of 30,983.

Craiova’s colours have traditionally been white shirts with blue shorts and socks, but the current shirt has a white top half and mostly blue bottom half. Their nickname is usually the white-blues but Wikipedia lists several others, including The Students.

Craiova have a proud record in Europe, being European Cup quarter-finalists in 1981/82 when they were eliminated by Bayern Munich, and semi-finalists in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup when after eliminating Fiorentina, Shamrock Rovers, Bordeaux and Kaiserslautern, they lost on away goals to Benfica.

In 1979/80 Craiova won both legs in the UEFA Cup against Leeds United 2-0, and in 1984/85 Betis were eliminated on away goals, making Craiova one of the few sides to have won European ties against teams from the big 5 countries in Europe ( England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France ).

In the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League, Craiova got past Bosnian side FK Sarajevo, Spartak Trnava from Slovakia and Istanbul Basaksehir to reach the League Phase, where they beat Mainz and Rapid Wien, drew with Armenian side Noah, but lost to Rakow Czestochowa from Poland, Sparta Prague and AEK Athens to exit the competition.

Craiova’s average home attendance last season was 14,066, the highest in the SuperLiga.

Craiova started the defence of their title with a 4-0 home win over UTA Arad on Saturday. With several first-choice players rested with tonight’s game in mind, Craiova only led 1-0 with 5 minutes left to play, but three goals at death put a gloss to the scoreline. Teles, Baiaram, Elisor were on target and an own goal completed the scoring, with the attendance being 10,833.

Craiova had already secured their first piece of silverware for the season by winning the Super Cup, beating U Cluj on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

CS Universitatea Craiova Squad

The most recognisable name to Fatbear in the Craiova squad was midfielder Tudor Baluta ( 14 caps ) who was signed by Brighton and Hove Albion as a 20-year-old from Viitorul Constanza but made only one appearance in the EFL Cup before being loaned out to ADO Den Haag and Dynamo Kiev, before being sold to Farul Constanza. He had now returned to Romania after a spell with Slask Wroclaw.

The highest valued player at €5M according to Transfermrkt was winger Stefan Baiaram ( 6 caps ), whilst other current Romanian internationals included ex-Fehervar, Pisa and Pafos centre-back Adrian Rus ( 23 caps ), left wing-back Nicusor Bancu ( 52 caps ), ex-Galatasaray midfielder Alexandru Cicaldau ( 39 caps ), midfielder David Matei ( 2 caps ), and midfielder Vladimir Screciu ( 8 caps ) whilst keeper Laurentiu Popescu was called-up to the most recent national squad but did not make his debut.

Foreign players in the squad include Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Romanchuk ( 1 cap ), Croatian Under 21 international left-back Juraj Badelj, Costa Rican winger Carlos Mora ( 23 caps ), Portuguese midfielder Samuel Teles, Nigerian striker Monday Etim, who had played in the USA and for three sides in Denmark, and last season’s top scorer with 11 goals, Palestine forward Assad Al Hamlawi ( 3 caps ), had played in Sweden, Thailand and for Slask Wroclaw.

Centre-back Nikola Stevanovic had 1 cap for Serbia, Jamaican defender Ronaldo Webster ( 6 caps ) had played for North Macedonian side Shkendija, French forward Simon Elisor had played for Ajaccio, Seraing, Metz, Troyes and Famalicao, ex-Benfica, Brest, Famalicao, Estoril and Maccabi Netanya Cape Verde winger Heri Tavares had 6 caps, whilst Georgian midfielder Anzor Mekvabishvili ( 33 caps ) was ex-Dinamo Tbilisi

The coach was Portuguese Felipe Coelho whose previous positions had included being assistant manager for South Korea and UAE.

Matchday Information

After a wet day, the weather at the 20.30 local time kick-off ( 18.30 UK ) was dry and 23 degrees.

Tickets for the match were between €13 and €17 but the game was sold out for home supporters. There were some spaces visible in the away enclosure. Programmes were €4 

 

Bet365, who live streamed the match made Levski 5/4 favourites, with Craiova at 21/10 and the draw 2/1.

Levski were playing in all blue with the names of their players on the back of the shirts in the Cyrillic alphabet but the sponsors’ name on the front was in Roman script. Craiova were wearing an all-white kit with blue patches on the front shoulders and upper chest and blue numbers.

Levski made three changes to the side that started against Borac Banja Luka, with Portuguese right-back Aldair Neves replacing Kamdem, whilst Bouras and Moubarik came into midfield at the expense of Trdin and Centelles.

Craiova made four changes to the team that took to the field against Vitebsk, with Screciu , Mekvabishvili, Bancu and Elisor replacing Badelj, Baluta, Teles and Al Hamlawi

The referee was Adam Ladeback from Sweden

Match Report

All the early possession went to Levski and with just over a minute played a low ball from the left by Reinaldo needed to be put off a corner by Rus.

The early pressure told as a right-wing cross from Serginho was met by the stooping Dimitrov to head high into the roof of the net from 6 yards at the far post. 1-0 after 8 minutes.

Levski were looking to add a quick second goal but after a ball down the right-hand channel, the attempted pass from Neves in search of Reinaldo inside the area was cut-out.

Craiova were first seen as an attacking force in the 14^th minute when a slick move saw Cicaldau keep the ball in play with a pull back from the byline inside the Levski area. The ball reached the unmarked Mora just inside the 18-yard line, who had time, but blazed high over the bar.

The visitors then saw three shots from edge of area blocked and Levski broke quickly, and after some lively play by Reinaldo, Serginho saw his shot held by keeper Popescu diving low to his right.

A short spell of pressure by Craiova saw Bancu’s low shot-cum-cross from left held by keeper Vutsov at his near post, then Etim’s low ball from the right-hand byline was put out for a corner.

Levski were soon back on the front foot, and when Neves cut in from the right-hand touchline, his fierce shot from the edge of the area was pushed away by Popescu diving to his left.

With 28 minutes played Elisor was lucky to escape receiving a yellow card after a bad foul on Neves close to the half-way line.

A minute later Craiova forced a corner, but Screciu fouled a defender in effort to head the ball.

The first yellow card of the game finally arrived in the 33^rd after Romanchuk’s late tackle on Maicon as the Levski left-back ran past him.

Popescu then needed to be alert to dive on a pull-back by Bouras from the Universitatea byline then at the other end Baiaram ran into the Levski area and was able to prod the ball to Mekvabishvili just outside area, but the Georgian shot high and wide.

The lively Reinaldo ran past the static Rus inside the Craiova area, but the shot from a tight angle went into side netting.

A flare up occurred five minutes before the interval as Neves and Bancu challenged for a loose ball. There didn’t appear too much to it until Baiaram needlessly joined in and was shown a yellow card for his contribution. Neves also saw yellow.

The last action of the first period saw Levski play a short free-kick only for the ball to then be floated across the edge of the penalty area. Serafimo headed high into air and Popescu made an easy catch.

It was 1-0 at half-time. Craiova had a slight edge in terms of the possession statistics, but the only shots on target had come from Levski.

There was nearly a dramatic start to the second half when Cicaldau latched on to a through ball from Mekvabishvili but the Craiova midfielder put the ball wide from 8 yards as Vutsov came off line.

The visitors had made a strong start after the break as a scramble then ensued in the Levski area after some poor defending to a cross, and when the ball again fell to Etim his shot struck the head of Vutsov from point-blank range. Levski somehow cleared and then broke quickly. Reinaldo’s threaded pass left Oko-Flex with just the keeper to beat. The Irishman attempted to chip Popescu as he came off his line and spread himself, but the keeper’s raised arm was able to made the block. Both sides could have scored in the space of less than 60 seconds……

Everton Bala became the next player to enter the referee’s note book for a bad foul.

Craiova forced another corner but again Levski broke quickly after clearing, as Reinaldo fed Oko-Flex who slid a pass to give Bouras a one on one with the keeper, but the midfielder put the ball over the bar from 12 yards. Again, Craiova were nearly undone by a lightning end to end move after an attack broke down.

The visitors’ response was for Baiaram to shoot wildly high and wide from a good position on left-hand side inside Levski area. Elisor then sent a diving header across goal but wide of the far post, after which Romanchuk sent a long-range effort harmlessly over.

Levski got the ball into the net for a second time in the 57^th minute but after Everton Bala was put clear by a slide-rule pass from Bouras, his calm finish across goal and inside the far post was chalked-off by the linesman’s raised flag for offside, which was confirmed by VAR.

Two minutes later Serginho robbed the dozing Screciu close to the touchline, but his low cross went just ahead of Reinaldo and Romanchuk put the ball of play for a corner. The set-piece was played short then floated to beyond far post, but the lurking Dimitrov could only shoot wide under pressure.

Craiova substitute Steven Nsimba attempted an ambitious long-range effort which bounced well wide

Oko-Flex then showed some good skill to send Bancu the wrong way and leaving him falling to the floor. However, it was Oko-Flex’s last contribution as he was immediately taken off !

With 66 minutes on the clock, a long drop-kick by Vutsov was latched onto by Reinaldo deep inside the Craiova half, but from his low ball across the goalmouth Screciu managed to get a foot to it to deflect to his keeper before Bouras could tap in.

Three minutes later Levski lost control as they took a short goal-kick and although Nsimba got a foot to it, the Frenchman was unlucky to see the ball roll the wrong side of the post.

Craiova came close again a minute later as Nsimba beat his marker down the left-hand side and sent a left-footed cross towards the far post where Mora stole in to strike the ball on the half-volley, but Vutsov produced a good diving save to concede a corner. Craiova played the corner short, then put the ball into mixer. Two shots were blocked before the ball fell to Nsimba close to the penalty spot, but his left footed effort flew a few feet over the bar.

The final 20 minutes saw Craiova having most of the possession but creating very little whilst Levski still looked dangerous on the counter. As the game moved into 4 minutes of added time, Maicon was shown a yellow card for sending Mora flying through the air.

Craiova ended the game with a bit of a whimper. Substitute Baluta’s long-range effort went yards over the bar, then with basically the last kick of the match a cross from a promising position on the right wing sailed high over the bar and off for a goal-kick.

Levski held on to the final whistle to take a one-goal lead to Romania next week, but it still all to play for.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIJ4puPxOoc 

Levski Sofia : Vutsov – Neves, Dimitrov, Sefafimov, Maicon – Bouras, Serginho ( Soula ), Moubarak ( Trdin ), Everton Bala ( Kusso ) – Reinaldo ( Stoyanchov ) , Oko-Flex ( Cantelles )

Universitatea Craiova : Popescu – Romanchuk, Rus, Screciu – Mora, Cicaldau, Mekvabishvili ( Baluta ), Bancus – Etim ( Teles ), Elisor ( Nsimba ), Baiaram ( Tavares )