Ludogorets vs FC Botosani

Ludogorets started at high tempo and took the lead in the 10th minute. Bernard Tekpetey received a diagonal pass from Francisco Son on the left flank and cut the ball back across the box. Alberto Salido Tajero, who scored twice in Ludogorets' 7-4 win over Etar in their previous friendly on 26 June, controlled and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom-left corner past goalkeeper Ioannis Anestis.

Four minutes later, Tekpetey turned scorer. Hendrik Bonman launched a long clearance following a throw-in, sending the Ghanaian winger clean through on goal, and he slotted past Anestis to make it 2-0 in the 14th minute.

The two-goal cushion lasted only four minutes. Sebastian Mailat escaped the attention of Idan Nahmias and Francisco Son, raced through one-on-one with Bonman, and finished from 7-8 metres to halve the deficit in the 18th minute.

Anestis made two saves in first-half stoppage time — first denying Petar Stanic from 17-18 metres, then a long-range effort from Tekpetey — to keep the score at 2-1 going into the break.

Ludogorets made 10 changes at half-time, replacing nine outfield players and goalkeeper Bonman with Sergio Padt. Only midfielder Filip Kaloch and defender Simeon Shishkov remained from the starting XI. The wholesale changes disrupted the hosts' rhythm entirely. Botosani, who made six half-time substitutions of their own, matched Ludogorets through the second half and grew into the contest.

The clearest warning came in the 62nd minute when Ludogorets substitute Eric Bile attempted an audacious 40-metre lob that beat goalkeeper David Dinca but crashed off the crossbar. It was the moment that could have sealed the win; instead, it proved costly.

Botosani pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages and found it in the 90th minute. A corner delivery into the box was met by substitute Rijad Sadiku, who headed past Padt to level the scores at 2-2.

Bernard Tekpetey (Ludogorets) — The Ghanaian winger was the game's most dangerous attacker in the first half, scoring one goal and providing the assist for Salido's opener. He forced two saves from Anestis before being substituted at half-time.

Alberto Salido Tajero (Ludogorets) — Scored his third goal in two pre-season friendlies, following his brace against Etar. The former Beroe striker looked sharp in the opening phase.

Rijad Sadiku (FC Botosani) — The Bosnian striker came off the bench at half-time and scored the 90th-minute equaliser, his first goal of pre-season. His header from a corner secured Botosani's draw.

David Dinca (FC Botosani) — Replaced Anestis at half-time between the posts and made several key saves, including stopping efforts from Ruan Cruz, Kwadwo Duah and Elisey Surov, keeping his side in the match.

Player of the Match: Bernard Tekpetey — his goal and assist inside 14 minutes set the tone, even if Ludogorets couldn't hold on.

Ludogorets registered 6 shots on target to Botosani's 1, with 5 of those coming in the first half. The shot count (6-0 on target at one stage) reflects Ludogorets' first-half superiority, yet the xG picture would likely show diminishing returns after the break — Bile's 62nd-minute crossbar hit was the closest they came to a third goal.

Botosani's 6 corners to Ludogorets' 7 tells a story of growing second-half pressure. The Romanian side earned 4 corners in the final 30 minutes, with the last one producing the equaliser. The 2-0 lead that looked comfortable after 14 minutes evaporated as Ludogorets' half-time tactical reshuffle never recovered the same attacking coherence.

Yellow cards were shown to Tekpetey (Ludogorets), and Bordeianu and Diarra (both Botosani) — all first-half cautions reflecting a competitive pre-season tempo.

This was Ludogorets' second pre-season friendly (following the 7-4 win over Etar Veliko Tarnovo on 26 June). The Bulgarian side, who finished 3rd in the 2025/26 First League — their lowest position in a decade — have two more friendlies on 10 July, facing Septemvri Sofia and Albanian side Teuta on the same day.

Ludogorets were without several key players: Nedjalkov, Vidal and Marcus were rested, while Dylan Duarte had just finished World Cup duty with Cape Verde, who lost 3-2 to Argentina.

Ludogorets will enter the Conference League second qualifying round later this month against Hapoel Tel Aviv, making this pre-season block crucial for fitness and tactical sharpness.

For FC Botosani, this was the final friendly of their summer camp in Bansko. Marius Croitoru's side ended pre-season with a record of one win (1-0 vs Dunfermline), two draws (0-0 vs Lokomotiv Sofia 1929 on 1 July, 2-2 vs Ludogorets) and two defeats (1-3 vs Egnatia, 0-4 vs Slavia Sofia). They open their Romanian Superliga campaign away to newly-promoted FC Voluntari on 17 July at 18:30 local time.

Botosani finished 10th in the 2025/26 Superliga and lost the Conference League play-off final 3-4 after extra time to FCSB.

A tale of two halves: Ludogorets' first 18 minutes were electric, but the half-time overhaul of the outfield XI broke their momentum entirely. Botosani showed character to fight back from 2-0 down away from home and earned a deserved draw through Sadiku's late header. For the bettor, the lesson is clear — pre-season friendlies with wholesale substitutions are unreliable for predicting sustained performance, but the 19-minute goal flurry (three goals from 10' to 18') offered early entertainment for the over-2.5 goals market.