Bulgaria missed a chance to go top of UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 10 after a 1-1 draw against Austria in Lovech. 

Alexandar Tonev’s stunning long-range effort put the hosts into an early lead, but captain Christopher Dibon headed in with 12 minutes left to rescue a point for Austria. Mihail Madanski's Bulgaria now have eight points from five games and are third in the table trailing the Netherlands by one point.

The hosts took the lead after just 12 minutes. Alexandar Tonev made a quick break and, with a 30-metre strike, gave Austria goalkeeper Samuel Radlinger no chance. 

Andreas Herzog's men started the second half better and came close to equalising as Deni Alar's shot went narrowly wide. As the half wore on, however, Bulgaria could have put the game beyond their opponents' reach. A save from Radlinger prevented Tonev from doubling his tally, and he then kept out a Radoslav Kirilov strike on 76 minutes.

Stung into action, the visitors got their equaliser two minutes later, as Dibon rose above the Bulgarian defence to head in Raphael Holzhauser’s free-kick and salvage a point.