Nigeria star David Idowu delivered a man-of-the-match performance on Monday evening to inspire his team Arda Kardzhali to a huge victory over Botev Plovdiv in their Bulgarian First League clash.
Idowu came off the bench to score the third goal of the contest and provide the fourth, as Arda Kardzhali crushed Botev Plovdiv 5-0 at the Hristo Botev Stadium, Footballrover reports.
David Idowu Sparks a 5-Goal Masterclass for Arda Kardzhali
The 25-year-old defender wasn’t the only Nigerian to feature in the fixture.
Abraham Ojo saw 45 minutes of action for Botev after replacing Emil Martinov, while Emmanuel John came on in the 84th minute for Henrique Jocu.
What started as a composed match quickly turned on its head in the 26th minute when Botev Plovdiv’s Andrey Yordanov was shown a straight red card, reducing the hosts to ten men.
Arda Kardzhali responded immediately—substituting David Idowu in for Serkan Yusein.
Just one minute later, Dimitar Velkovski stunned the home crowd with a sensational direct free kick to open the scoring.
Though Arda thought they had doubled the lead through Calal Huseynov, VAR intervened to rule the goal out for offside.
Nonetheless, the visitors remained relentless. Just before halftime, Antonio Vutov extended the lead to 2-0 after calmly slotting home a pass from Lachezar Kotev.
Botev Crumble as Arda Turn Up the Heat
Botev’s misery was compounded in the second half when captain Ivelin Popov received a second yellow and subsequent red card in the 58th minute, leaving the home side with just nine men.
From there, it was open season. In the 68th minute, Idowu found the net after a well-placed assist from Svetoslav Kovachev—marking his second goal in two matches.
He also scored against HJK Helsinki in their last outing in the Europa Conference League fixture.
The Nigerian defender turned playmaker in the 86th minute, assisting Isnaba Mane for Arda’s fourth goal.
Three minutes later, Mane set up Birsent Karagaren, who buried a bullet header to seal the emphatic 5-0 win.
It was a night to forget for Botev and a statement performance from Arda, who delivered a five-star display in this Round 3 encounter of the Bulgarian First Professional League.
Idowu has now inspired the team to their first win of the campaign, having previously suffered a draw and a defeat in their opening two matches.
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Last Updated on August 5, 2025 9:09 am by Sir Kris
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