RC Celta secured a draw in the visit of Getafe CF during the ninth matchday of La Liga EA Sports at Abanca Balaídos.
The team led by Rafa Benítez presented itself to its fans with a change in its playing system. The sky-blues reverted to a four-man defense after seven matchdays to face Bordalás’s team and their characteristic style of play.
Sánchez Martínez started the first half of the match, which soon turned against the celestes. In one of the first plays of the game, Mayoral reached the celeste area and put the Madrid team ahead, scoring the 0-1 in the 2nd minute. A hard blow for the home team, who managed to stay calm and worked diligently to reverse this adverse scenario.
From a corner kick for Celta, the VAR detected a penalty committed on Unai Núñez by a tackle. It was one of the most promising opportunities for the celestes in the game so far. Iago Aspas took the penalty from 11 meters, but the ball hit the post.
The celestes persisted, and at the 24th minute, after a good play by Luca de la Torre on the left wing, he passed the ball to Jonathan Bamba who scored the equalizer, the first goal for the celestes at Abanca Balaídos and the Ivorian’s first in La Liga EA Sports. The fans celebrated jubilantly from the stands with their team, which not only balanced the match but also opened the scoring at home.
It was a game of intense emotions, sharp and lively. At the half-hour mark, the referee sent off center-back Domingos Duarte for a second yellow card, and three minutes after being reduced to 10 men, Getafe managed to take the lead again by scoring their second goal, courtesy of Greenwood.
We were about to reach halftime when Mihailo Ristic centered a good ball from the left for Aspas, whose shot was rejected by David Soria and picked up by Strand Larsen who, after validating the play with the VAR, celebrated his first official goal at Abanca Balaídos and the third of the season.
The Norwegian almost put his team ahead during the seven minutes of added time, but the teams would end the first half tied.
The second half was dominated by the home team, with almost all the celeste players in the opponent’s half for most of these 45 minutes. Celta, which constantly pressed against a very defensive Getafe, who took every opportunity to waste time, and with a very focused and accurate David Soria in his interventions, would end the duel the same way as the first half: with a 2-2 draw.
After earning a point, Rafa Benítez’s team has two weeks of work ahead until their next league match, which will be again at Abanca Balaídos against Atlético de Madrid, on Saturday, October 21st at 9:00 pm.
TECHNICAL DATA:
2 – RC Celta: Iván Villar; O. Mingueza, Unai Núñez, Carl Starfelt, Mihailo Ristic (Manu Sánchez, min. 86); Carles Pérez (Tasos Douvikas, min. 86), Fran Beltrán (Hugo Sotelo, min. 60), Luca de la Torre, Jonathan Bamba (Miguel Rodríguez, min. 79); Iago Aspas and Strand Larsen.
2 – Getafe CF: David Soria; Damián Suárez, D. Duarte, G. Álvarez, Diego Rico; C. Aleñá (Alderete, min. 46), Djené (Juan Iglesias, min. 61; Carmona, min. 90), Maksimovic, J. Mata; Greenwood (Arrambarri, min. 61) and Mayoral (Latasa, min. 71).
Goals: 0-1 Mayoral (min. 2); 1-1 Jonathan Bamba (min. 24); 1-2 Greenwood (min. 33); 2-2 Larsen (min. 42)
Referee: Sánchez Martínez. The referee showed yellow cards to Fran Beltrán for the celestes, and for Getafe CF, Maksimovic, Djené, Mata, and Aleñá received yellow cards, while Duarte was sent off for a second yellow card.
Notes: Match corresponding to the ninth matchday of LaLiga EA Sports played at the Abanca Balaídos stadium.
