Celta dominated the game, created numerous chances and kept pushing for a goal until the final minute, but had to settle for a goalless draw against Levante at Abanca Balaídos. Claudio Giráldez’s side controlled much of the match, but came up against an inspired Ryan and once again lacked the finishing touch in front of goal.
Celta started with the intention of taking control of the game and soon created their first chances. Pablo Durán and Javi Rodríguez came close to putting the home side ahead, but Ryan and the woodwork kept them out. Shortly afterwards, Javi Rueda converted the rebound, although the goal was ruled out for offside. Durán also found the net, but his effort was disallowed for an offside infringement. Levante, meanwhile, responded with a few isolated attacks that forced Radu into action. Despite both sides’ efforts, the teams went into the break goalless.
After the restart, Celta maintained their attacking approach and continued looking for openings. Aspas, Hugo Álvarez and Durán all tried their luck, but once again came up against a confident Ryan between the posts. Giráldez made changes to inject fresh energy into the side, bringing on Hugo Burcio, Swedberg and Hugo González. Celta stepped up the pressure in the closing stages, and Durán had a clear double chance, but the visiting goalkeeper came to the rescue once again. In the final action of the match, Levante had an opportunity to snatch all three points through a Brugué effort, but he failed to find the target.
With little time to dwell on the result, the team is already focused on its next fixture. This Friday, 13 November, at 9:00 pm, Celta will travel to face Salamanca UDS in the first round of the Copa del Rey.
MATCH DETAILS:
0 – Celta: Radu; Javi Rodríguez (Hugo Álvarez, 46′), Sebastián Cáceres, Marcos Alonso; Javi Rueda (Javi Galán, 46′), Andrés Antañón (Hugo Burcio, 64′), Ilaix Moriba, Sergio Carreira; Iago Aspas (Hugo González, 76′), Couhaib Driouech (Williot Swedberg, 76′) and Pablo Durán.
0 – Levante UD: Ryan; Toljan, Mandi, Ndukwe (De la Fuente, 46′), Nacho Pérez (Marc Santos, 77′); Requena, Hugo Sotelo (Oriol Rey, 46′), Olasagasti; Brugué, Etta Eyong (Iván Romero, 46′) and Thiago Fernández (Víctor García, 56′).
Referee: Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias (Madrid Referees Committee). Yellow cards were shown to Dani Requena (32′) and Adrián de la Fuente (63′) for Levante, and Javi Galán (88′) for Celta.
Incidents: Matchday 12 of LaLiga EA Sports, played at Abanca Balaídos in front of spectators. The match was marked by a tribute to Jesús de Miguel, the recently deceased CD Tenerife player. All players took to the pitch wearing commemorative shirts. Before kick-off, a floral tribute was laid and a minute’s silence was observed in his memory. In addition, in the 9th minute of the first half, the stadium paid tribute to him with a round of applause accompanied by a commemorative video shown on the stadium screens.
