Celta Fortuna faced one of the toughest tests in the division at Montilivi against a Girona side built to reclaim its place in the First Division. The Celta youth team could not avoid defeat against the Catalan squad, who effectively secured the match in the first half.
The game became an uphill battle from the very beginning. Vanat opened the scoring, and Girona quickly extended their lead with goals from Unai Hernández and a brace from the Ukrainian forward, the second of which came from the penalty spot. The sending-off of Pablo Meixús added further difficulty to an afternoon in which Fortuna had to fight an uphill battle against an opponent with immense attacking potential. Before the break, Carles Pérez netted the hosts’ fourth goal.
Far from giving up, the Celta youth side returned to the pitch determined to defend the club’s badge as it deserves. Although Vanat widened the gap further by completing his hat-trick, Fredi Álvarez’s men were rewarded for their persistence through a fine play by Óscar Marcos, which narrowed the deficit and allowed the team to end the second half on a more positive note.
There was one bright spot on the day: Stefan Bajčetić returned to action for the first time in over 500 days, bringing an end to a long spell on the sidelines.
While the result did not go Celta Fortuna’s way in one of the most demanding away fixtures on the calendar, the team found reasons to continue their development throughout their campaign in LaLiga Hypermotion. Their next match will take place at Abanca Balaídos on Saturday, October 31, at 6:30 PM, against Córdoba CF.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
5 – Girona FC: Gazzaniga; Mate (Abdul Mumin, min. 59), Alejandro Francés, David López, Àlex Moreno; Fran Beltrán (Morante, min. 59), Izan; Asprilla, Unai Hernández (Van de Beek, min. 59), Carles Pérez (Stuani, min. 73); and Vanat (Pyshchur, min. 67).
1 – Celta Fortuna: Coke Carrillo; Germain Milla (Mateo Sobral, min. 57), Pablo Gavián, Pablo Meixús, Quique Ribes, Joel López; Hugo Cuenca (Seyni Ndiaye, min. 57), Capde (Kibet, min. 77); Óscar Marcos (Stefan Bajčetić, min. 77), Álvaro Marín and Ángel Arcos (Jan Oliveras, min. 61).
Goals: 1-0, min. 17: Vanat. 2-0, min. 20: Unai Hernández. 3-0, min. 29: Vanat. 4-0, min. 38: Carles Pérez. 5-0, min. 55: Vanat. 5-1, min. 59: Óscar Marcos.
Referee: José Luis Guzmán (Andalusian officiating team). For Celta Fortuna, Pablo Meixús was sent off (min. 28), and yellow cards were shown to Hugo Cuenca (min. 41), Jan Oliveras (min. 77), and Joel López (min. 90+1). For Girona, Stuani received a yellow card (min. 90+3).
Match details: A fixture from Matchday 11 of LaLiga Hypermotion, played at the Estadi Montilivi in front of 9,682 spectators.
