Celta draws against Barcelona!
Vigo, Nov 23 (EFE).-
Celta Vigo scored two late goals against a 10-man Barcelona, snatching a 2-2 draw at home in the Spanish league on Saturday.
Hansi Flick’s team reached the final minutes with a comfortable 2-0 thanks to goals from Raphinha and Lewandowski and several decisive saves from Iñaki Peña.
But Casadó’s expulsion and, above all, a monumental error by Koundé gave life to Celta, who could have even made an epic comeback if the Catalan goalkeeper hadn’t prevented a Borja Iglesias goal.
Almost everything happened as expected at Abanca Balaídos. High pace, high pressure from both teams, vertical play.
Celta opened the match with a very clear chance. There were three near misses: a long pass from Marcos Alonso to the right, a volleyed cross from Mingueza and, in the center of the area and 10 meters from the goal, a shot wide from Aspas.
The lack of punch was the big difference. Barcelona, who had Gavi and Gerard Martín as major newcomers, scored on their first approach. Mingueza miscalculated to clear a long pass from Koundé and that defensive error facilitated Raphinha’s goal.
Barcelona made few attempts in the Galician area. A high shot from Casadó and a couple of attempts from Dani Olmo minutes before the end of the first half, a controversial ending due to a clear foul by Gerard Martín on Aspas that the referee did not punish with a yellow card. Aspas protested furiously. So did his bench. Balaídos exploded against Soto Grado. Flick took Gerard Martín off the field during the break.
In the second half the script barely changed. Celta attacked the spaces offered by Barcelona’s advanced defence. It looked for different solutions, such as a shot from 40 metres by Aspas to surprise Iñaki Peña.
The dynamite that the Celta team did not have was displayed by Flick’s team. Raphinha stole the ball from Mingueza in the centre of the field, advanced and assisted Lewandowski, who first went past Javi Rodríguez and then took advantage of Starfelt’s lack of forcefulness to face Guaita.
That second goal did not knock Celta down. They continued their harassment with a shot from Alfon and another much more dangerous one, after starting from the centre of the field and getting behind the defenders, from Hugo Álvarez. Only when Claudio Giráldez’s team had a slight physical drop, did Barcelona improve. It was a short time. But at that moment, with a counterattack, Raphinha was able to finish off the attack with a shot off the post.
Celta revived in the final 15 minutes. They went for the game again. They had faith in the comeback. They never tired of believing. Balaídos was encouraged by Casadó’s expulsion.
And then came two minutes of madness: a serious error by Koundé led to Alfon’s goal, and the equalizer came shortly after, with Barcelona trapped, trapped by the voracity of Celta, who moved the ball from left to right until Hugo Álvarez invented a lethal shot, the goal that gave the thrilling equalizer. EFE
dmg/tw
