Football has those nights when the script seems to be written, because Iago Aspas took to the pitch to play what would be his 534th match defending Celta’s colours, and it took him just one minute to show why he is the best player in our history.
In the first move of the match against OGC Nice, the captain dropped back to midfield to start the play, joined the attack and, after a rebound, caught the ball at the edge of the area to unleash a powerful left-footed shot that sent the Abanca Balaídos crowd into a frenzy.
After a brilliant start, Nice took control and took advantage of a defensive error to equalise through Cho. The French goal momentarily unsettled the Sky Blues, who were forced to regroup. But Clauss’ sending-off changed the picture. With an extra player, Claudio Giráldez’s side regained control of the ball and began to lay siege to the opposition’s goal.
In the final stages, Nice threw everything forward in search of an equaliser and three consecutive corners in added time had the whole stadium holding its breath, but the final whistle sparked the ovation that Iago Aspas deserved.
On the second European night at Abanca Balaídos, Iago shone, becoming the player with the most appearances in the history of
On the second European night at Abanca Balaídos, Iago shone, becoming the player with the most appearances in Celta’s history and proving that there is still much history to be written together.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
2 – Celta: Andrei Radu; Manu Fernández, Carl Starfelt, Marcos Alonso; Sergio Carreira (Óscar Mingueza, min. 72), Fran Beltrán (Hugo Sotelo, min. 72), Miguel Román, Hugo Álvarez (Borja Iglesias, min. 46); Iago Aspas, Pablo Durán (Javi Rueda, min. 66) and Bryan Zaragoza (Cervi, min. 78).
1 – OGC Nice: Diouf; Oppong, Juma Bah, Melvin Bard; Clauss, Louchet (Boga, min. 81), Abdul Samed, Abdi (Gouveia, min. 70); Mohamed-Ali Cho (Mendy, min. 46), Sanson (Vanhoutte, min. 70) and Kevin Carlos (Nguene, min. 81).
Goals: 1-0 Iago Aspas, min. 1; 1-1 Mohamed-Ali Cho, min. 15; 2-1 Oppong (pp), min. 75.
Referee: Sander Van der Eijk (Dutch). He sent off French player Clauss (min. 37) for a second yellow card. He also showed yellow cards to Manu Fernández (min. 79) for Celta, and to Mendy (min. 47) and Bard (min. 66) for Nice.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the third day of the initial phase of the Europa League played at Abanca Balaídos in front of 20,631 spectators.
