Levski Sofia rallies past Viktoria Plzen, leaves them pointless in Europa League

Levski Sofia left the Doosan Arena with a 2-1 win that keeps them alive in the Europa League, on a night when Viktoria Plzen once again came away empty handed. It was an even match, decided by small details in a second half that was turned on its head in just three minutes.

The Bulgarian side went ahead right before halftime: in the 43rd minute, Everton Bala struck a right footed shot from the center of the box, assisted by Reinaldo, to make it 0-1 heading into the locker room. Plzen had created some danger before that, a shot from Lukas Cerv, an attempt from Amar Memic, a header from Christophe Kabongo that went close, but hadn't found the net.

In the second half, the home side responded. A corner kick fell to Kabongo, who made no mistake this time: a right footed shot from the center of the box leveled it at 1-1 in the 61st minute, assisted by Cheick Souare. Viktoria Plzen's joy didn't last long: three minutes later, in the 64th, Reinaldo finished from close range, low and inside the post, after a pass from Maicon, to restore Levski Sofia's lead and make it a final 1-2.

What the numbers showed

Viktoria Plzen had more possession and more shots, but lacked precision: of their 13 attempts, only 2 were on target. Levski Sofia, with fewer shots, was more clinical and also created more clear cut chances.

The xG calculated after the fact from the match's shots backs up that sense of an even contest with a slight edge for the visitors: 1.075 for Viktoria Plzen versus 1.241 for Levski Sofia. Nothing too far removed from the final score.

Before kickoff, the projection published in the preview gave Viktoria Plzen a 35% chance of winning, 32% for a draw and 33% for Levski Sofia, with expected goals of 1.12 for each side. The result ended up falling on the less favored side of that near even split, though within a margin the projection itself left open.

What's at stake

In the Europa League standings, the blow is a harsh one for Viktoria Plzen: they sit on zero points through three matches played, with 0 wins, 0 draws and 3 losses, and a goal difference of minus 5. Levski Sofia, meanwhile, moves to 4 points in the competition, with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, and a goal difference of 0. The gap between the two sides in the table stands at 4 points.

With substitutions on both sides down the stretch (among them Armstrong Oko-Flex and Akram Bouras for Levski Sofia, and Salim Lawal, Stefan Pirgic, Baboucarr Faal, Alexandr Sojka and Matej Vydra for Viktoria Plzen), the scoreline didn't move again, though there were chances in the closing minutes, including a header from Salim Lawal that didn't find the net. Stefan Pirgic picked up a yellow card in stoppage time, as the match wrapped up with four added minutes that didn't change the result.

Viktoria Plzen is left with no margin for error for the rest of the tournament, while Levski Sofia banks a win that lets them look at the table with a bit more calm.