Flying Eagles forward Emmanuel Umeh celebrated the first major title of his career after helping Botev Plovdiv win the 2024 Bulgarian Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.
Umeh scored the decisive goal for Botev Plovdiv as they beat Ludogorets 3-2 in the final of the competition played inside the Stadion Vasil Levski in Sofia on Wednesday night.
The two teams traded goals within the opening eight minutes as Antoine Conté’s fourth-minute header for Botev Plovdiv was cancelled out by a fine finish from Ghana’s Kwadwo Antwi Duah.
However, Martin Sekulić restored Botev’s lead on the stroke of halftime and Umeh doubled the advantage shortly after the interval.
The 19-year-old Nigerian forward raced to finish off a smart Botev counter-attack, netting his third goal in only four Cup appearances this season.
Rwan Cruz scored with a diving strike in the 71st minute to reduce the deficit for Ludogorets before the runners-up missed a last-gasp penalty to level proceedings.
With the win, Botev Plovdiv secured their fourth Bulgarian Cup triumph and the first since 2017.
Interestingly, it is the first major honour of Umeh’s career. The youngster joined Botev Plovdiv in 2022 after leaving Russian side Vista Gelendzhik.
He played for the Right2win Football Academy in Nigeria before moving to Europe.
Umeh was in the Flying Eagles squad to the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, appearing in all five matches and providing two assists before Nigeria got knocked out by South Korea in the quarter-finals.
The Nigeria youth international is a favourite to be named the Bulgarian Cup’s Most Valuable Player as he found the net in key games against Etar, CSKA Sofia, and Ludogorets.
Umeh also has another seven goals in 25 appearances in the Bulgarian top flight, in what has been an excellent season for the young attacker.
