Celta Vigo 1-0 Almeria
Celta Vigo lifted themselves six points clear of the drop on Friday night, with a single goal separating them from winless Almeria in the torrential rain at Balaidos. The game was billed as a potential referendum on the future of Rafael Benitez, but he will be safe for a few weeks yet following this result.
Celta starting off well, getting into the Almeria area, and from a corner, Oscar Mingueza clipped a no-look ball into the path of Luca de la Torre, whose square pass was turned in by Jonathan Bamba. On review, it was ruled offside, and Celta struggled to cope with the emotional blow.
🏁 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 con VI-TO-RIA! ✅
Grazas polo enorme apoio, celtismo 🩵🙌 Isto non para! #CeltaAlmería ⋄ #LALIGAEASPORTS pic.twitter.com/7Q7O1WNazw
— RC Celta (@RCCelta) March 1, 2024
Almeria looked more dangerous, with Adrian Embarba putting in several dangerous crosses. Left-back Bruno Langa then struck the inside of the post, and got to the rebound first, but couldn’t keep his shot lower than the bar while Vicente Guaitia was grounded.
Before the half was up, Anastasios Douvikas forced an excellent save from Luis Maximiano. That came from an alarming incident where Milan loanee Luka Romero was stretchered off after he collided with teammate Marc Pubill, whose studs caught him in the face.
🤳🩵 ¡El saludo de @OscarMingueza al celtismo! pic.twitter.com/kVfaYGhXXs
— RC Celta (@RCCelta) March 1, 2024
In the second half, Celta improved, applying more pressure on Almeria. That resulted in a red card for Langa, whose reckless challenge was similar to Pubill’s but on Bamba. At that point, Celta really started to put the squeeze on ten-man Almeria. It wasn’t until 15 minutes from the end that Mingueza, who was denied an assist minutes earlier by a brilliant Pubill interception, picked the ball up in space. He unleashed a rasping drive which skidded off the inside of the post from 30 yards and beat Maximiano.
Strand Larsen did everything right in the final ten minutes, sitting two Almeria defenders down before shooting, only to be thwarted by a sensational Maximiano save again. The Andalusians couldn’t get on the front foot with a man less though, and Celta came away with three vital points. Almeria are now 15 points separated from safety with only 11 games to go, while Celta can watch Cadiz’s trip to Rayo Vallecano with a little less tension.
After the match, Mingueza explained his emotional reaction to his goal, dedicating it to his grandmother and Celta fans, the former having passed away this week.
