RC Celta - Athletic Club

Athletic Club have suffered their first defeat away from home, as a result of the goal Iago Aspas’ scored in the 73rd minute after a corner-kick. The Lions will have to put themselves back together during the international break this week to be ready for the next match against Real Valladolid at San Mamés. It must be mentioned that Balaídos received a large influx of Athletic fans.

The red-and-white side, whose starting XI included Balenziaga and Vesga for the first time in the campaign, soon realized they had to watch out for the new talents recruited by Celta for this season. 30 seconds into the game, Aspas headed out a fine cross from Denís Suárez. Moñaca’s predatory instinct would end up being decisive.

It was certainly a long match, a wearing-out one. In the first half, Athletic did not stand out in attack, they had an only approach to Celta’s goal by Williams and De Marcos, and a missed goal attempt by Vesga. On the other hand, Celta did not bother Simón much either, being an off target crossed shot by Santi Mina their only opportunity.

In the second half, Athletic threatened with a couple of scares from set-pieces, but just after Sancet had the best scoring chance for the red-and-white team, with a strike from the edge of the penalty box that was gathered by Rubén Blanco, Celta took advantage of a corner kick to score 1-0 after striking the ball towards the near post. It posed a hint of intrigue, as Medié Jiménez was initially in an offside position.

MATCH DATA

RC CELTA: Rubén Blanco; Hugo Mallo, Aidoo, Araujo, Lucas Olaza; Rafinha, Okay, Lobotka, Denis Suárez; IagoAspas y Santi Mina. Substitutions: Brais Méndez came into the game for Rafinha (72’), Pape Cheikh for Lobotka(82’) and Fran Beltrán for Denis Suárez (87’)

ATHLETIC CLUB: Simón; Capa, Yeray, Iñigo Martínez, Balenziaga; Dani García, Vesga; De Marcos, Raúl García, Muniain; and Williams. Substitutions: Sancet came into the game for De Marcos (65’), Aduriz for Muniain (80’) and Larrazabal for Vesga (80’)

GOAL: 73′ Iago Aspas

REFEREE: Medié Jiménez. He showed yellow cards to Balenziaga (21’), Raúl García (40’), Yeray (76’), IñigoMartínez (78’) and Capa (84’)

STADIUM: Balaídos. 19,690 spectators, 800 of them were Athletic Club’s supporters.