Celta secured a hard-fought victory at the Ciutat de València after beating Levante UD 1–2. The Sky Blues took the lead with a goal from Óscar Mingueza on the stroke of half-time, saw the home side equalize despite playing with one man down, and ended up taking the win in stoppage time thanks to a goal from Miguel Román, who made his debut as a goalscorer with the first team.
The match started evenly, with both sides creating chances. Levante pressed hard in the opening minutes, but Celta held firm and gradually took control of the ball. The sending off of Unai Vencedor for a hard tackle on Ilaix Moriba changed the course of the game. With an extra player, Claudio Giráldez’s side moved the ball calmly and were rewarded just before half-time through Óscar Mingueza, who appeared from the edge of the area to make it 0-1 with a well-placed shot.
In the second half, everything seemed to be going Celta’s way, but Levante did not make things easy. Despite being a man down, the home side equalized in the 66th minute with a goal from Kervin Arriaga after a rebound from a corner. The goal gave Levante a boost, but Celta kept their cool and continued to search for the winner. Their efforts were rewarded in the 91st minute when Miguel Román pounced on a loose ball in the box to make it 1–2 and spark celebrations on the Celta bench.
With this win, Celta picks up its second victory of the LaLiga season and boosts its confidence ahead of a demanding week. The Sky Blues will now visit Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Europa League and return to domestic competition next Sunday at Abanca Balaídos to face FC Barcelona.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
1 – Levante UD: Ryan, Toljan (Dela, m.82), Elgezabal, Matías Moreno, Manu Sánchez (Matturro, m.82); Arriaga, Vencedor; Victor García (Olasagasti, m.46), Brugué (Espí, m.58), Carlos Álvarez (Morales, m.90); Etta Eyong.
2 – Celta: Radu; Javi Rodríguez (El-Abdellaoui, m.79), Starfelt, Marcos Alonso (Carlos Domínguez, m.60); Óscar Mingueza, Fran Beltrán (Iago Aspas, m.68), Ilaix Moriba (Miguel Román, m.79), Carreira; Jutglá (Hugo Sotelo, m.68), Borja Iglesias and Bryan Zaragoza.
Goals: 0-1, m.40: Óscar Mingueza. 1-1, m.66: Arriaga. 1-2, m.91: Miguel Román.
Referee: Alejandro Quintero González (Andalusian committee). He booked Toljan (59′) and Elgezabal (69′) for the home side and Marcos Alonso (31′), Starfelt (73′) and Carreira (88′) for the visitors. He sent off Vencedor (29′) from Levante.
Incidents: Match corresponding to Matchday 11 of LALIGA EA SPORTS played at the Ciutat de València Stadium. Before the start of the match, a minute’s silence was held in memory of the victims of the storm.
