Bulgarian A-League wrap: Lovech stay well clear

Lovech maintained their five-point buffer on top of the Bulgarian A-League on Saturday with a 3-1 away win over Lokomotiv Sofia.

After a goalless first half at the Stadion Vasil Levski, Lovech burst out of the blocks in the second half with goals to Momchil Tsvetanov and Svetoslav Todov putting them 2-0 up after 43 minutes.

Lokomotiv responded with a strike from Milen Labchev, but a 72nd-minute goal from Doka Madureira put the result beyond doubt.

Elsewhere on Saturday, second-placed Levski Sofia kept the pressure on Lovech with a 3-0 win over struggling Akademik Sofia thanks to a goal from Vladimir Gadzhev and a late brace from Daniel Mladenov.

Third-placed CSKA Sofia lost ground on the top two when they were handed a 4-1 thrashing at Lokomotiv Plovdiv.

Emil Gargorov gave the visitors an early lead but Plovdiv hit back with goals from Martin Kavdanski, Jeremie Rodrigues and two from Hristo Zlatinski to move into fourth onto the table.

Pirin Blagoevgrad played out a 1-1 draw at home against Chernomorets, Rakovski and Beroe drew 1-1 and Minyor Pernik salvaged a point at home with a 1-1 draw against Cherno More.

Kaliakra defeated Sliven 2-1 and Montana needed a 79th-minute strike from Nikolay Domakinov to secure a 1-0 win at home over Slavia Sofia.