Deportivo Alavés knocked down the door of salvation with a round match against Celta de Vigo, whom they solidly beat 3-0 in a duel that could have ended with a larger result and leaves the permanence within reach of the Albiazules in matchday 33 of LaLiga EA Sports.
Although they could have scored in the first half, all the goals came after the break. In just ten minutes, Giuliano Simeon and Jon Guridi scored, making their debut as Alava scorers. The signature was given by Carlos Benavídez to close an almost perfect match against a Celta that could not oppose an Alavés with more spark and desire, who celebrated Mendizorroza’s centenary in style.
The Glorious One thus faces salvation while the Galicians will have to wait.
The duel began lively, both on the pitch and in the stands, where the centenary of the Mendizorroza stadium was celebrated in style.
Everything went as planned. Celta took control of the ball from the opening whistle and Alavés sought to attack with their speed and it was the home team who created the most chances.
The first was from Kike García after five minutes, with an important arrival to the area in one on one, which disrupted the Galician team with a good retreat.
Carlos Benavídez forced Vicente Guaita to put his fists in to repel the strong shot from the Uruguayan, who occupied a lot of the field with his physical display.
Celta couldn’t find a way to compromise a well-placed Alavés and after 19 minutes the controversy arose. The light blue team asked for a penalty for the knockdown of Carles Pérez, who tried to kick Rubén Duarte from the ground. The referee showed a red card to the player from the Vigo team, but rectified it after consulting with the VAR monitor, which led to several yellow cards for both sides.
The duel continued eleven against eleven and with the same script. Celta tried to sleep their attacks and Alavés tried to get more rhythm.
It was the locals who came the most. Kike García headed a corner kick and Carlos Vicente, after several rebounds, had the opportunity to move the scoreboard, but they were unsuccessful.
Celta couldn’t find their place and defended themselves as best they could in the first half hour of blue and white.
The best opportunity came from Kike García in the 37th minute when he received a back pass from Carlos Vicente, but he found himself in the chest of the visiting goalkeeper when he finished a few meters from the goal line.
It was a first half that had everything but goals.
The fruits came in the second half. Alavés once again subdued Celta from the start and in just ten minutes they closed the match with two goals, with Giuliano Simeone taking center stage.
The Italian-Argentine achieved the first by completing a good drive by Kike García and was key in the pressure to achieve the second, the work of Jon Guridi, who was making his debut as an Albiazul scorer.
The result did not stop Alavés, who tried again and again and came closer to scoring the third than Celta did to close the gap.
Giráldez’s changes did not give his team the depth he intended, while Jon Guridi crashed the ball into the right post with more than 15 minutes left.
The forwards of the Galician squad barely came into play because the Basque midfield collapsed all the attempts of a team with less spark than the rival.
Iago Aspas had a chance to score in the final stretch, but he didn’t hit the entire goal in his favor. The one who did was Carlos Benavídez, who rounded off a great game with a header goal from an indirect free kick in the final stretch.
Data sheet
3 – Alavés: Sivera; Gorosabel, Tenaglia, Duarte (Guevara, min.72), López; Blanco, Benavídez, Guridi (Panichelli, min.89); Giuliano (Rioja, min.89), Carlos Vicente (Sola, min.82) and Kike García (Samu, min.82).
0 – Celta de Vigo: Guaita; Mingueza, Carlos Domínguez, Unai Nuñez (Swedberg, min.54); Carles Pérez (Rodríguez, min.81), Jailson, Fran Beltrán, Hugo Álvarez, Manu Sánchez (De la torre, min.54); Iago Aspas and Douvikas (Allende, min.73).
Goals: 1-0: min. 48, Giuliano. 2-0: min. 54, Guridi. 3-0: min. 86, Benavidez.
Referee: Pulido Santana (Las Palmas Committee). He admonished the locals Duarte (min.20) and Blanco (min.27), and the visitors Pérez (min.21), Mingueza (min.86) and Hugo Álvarez (min.88)
Incidents: Match corresponding to the thirty-third day of LaLiga EA Sports played in Mendizorroza before 18,039 spectators. The hundred years of the babazorro stadium were commemorated with a spectacular reception for the teams and 20,000 flags in the stands.
