Nigerian duo of Christian Nwachukwu and Anthony Ujah were the heroes on Thursday night as Botev Plovdiv defeated Maribor 4-3 on aggregate to secure a ticket to the next qualifying round of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League season, Nigeriasoccernet.com writes.
After scoring a goal and providing an assist in the first leg 2-1 win for Botev Plovdiv at the Stadion Hristo Botev (Plovdiv), Ujah contributed another goal in the second leg at the Ljudski vrt (Maribor) to ensure his side overcome their Slovenian counterpart in the fiercely contested double-leg tie.
Jan Repas in the 13th minutes of the second leg give Maribor the lead, a goal that tied the game on a 2-2 aggregate. Nwachukwu restored Botev aggregate lead 2 minutes into the 2nd half, before Anthony Ujah killed the home team hope of another lead on the hour mark, scoring a beaut to put Botev 2-1 ahead on the night and 4-2 aggregate lead.
Having secured the first qualifying rounds passage, the Nigerian duo will hope their club gets a favourable draw for the next qualifying round on Friday.
Oluwayemi Omolagba