Celta de Vigo will play in the next round of the Copa del Rey after defeating Racing de Santander (2-3) at El Sardinero, in a match where the green and white lasted more than 45 minutes with one man down , for expelling Mantilla in the first half, and they were ahead with five minutes left, but Alfon, a footballer with a career past, emerges as a formidable opponent of a match with two goals, one of which will be decided in extra time.
Despite the difference in category, in the early stages the Cantabrians came out on the field dominating, putting Celta in their field and, although the Galicians were the first to warn, with a powerful shot from Pablo Durán which crashed into the crossbar Parera, after being helped by a heel from Iago AspasRacing, in the 8th minute, took the lead Andres Martin took advantage of a great pass filtered by Michelin to beat low on Ivan Villar.
Racing de Santander was one step further and after the goal they were able to extend their advantage against a Celta that, true to its style, was trying, little by little, to control the ball, giving the game some moments. This is how, after subduing the local push, in the 20th minute, with a great attack on the right wing, Mingueza he put the ball in the penalty spot and the former green and white Alfon He did not waste the opportunity to define with quality and achieve the tie.
With the score at 1-1, Racing seemed to take the initiative again but Celta kept finding the back of their defense and in one of those chances. Alfon won the position against Mantilla who, as the last defender, was forced to grab him and the referee, Gonzalez Fuertesthe action was deemed a dismissal for the race captain.
The tie faced a Celta de Vigo who, with another, began to lock their rival in their field and, before the break, already had several opportunities to turn the game around, such as a ball hit on the crossbar after a shot from in front of Marcos Alonso, or a heads-up from Alfon que Parera cleared for a corner.
At the start, the green and white coach, José Alberto López, made a change in the system and Karera went to the defense of five, inserting Aldasoro in the middle of the defense with the recently incorporated Manu Hernando and Javi Castro.
The Cantabrians resisted the celestial siege, which further pushed the search for victory and, however, in one of the few times Racing left their field, in an isolated play, after the chaos in the area of Celta, ARana and Javi Rodríguez finished deflected the ball enough for meVillar couldn’t avoid it to sneak under meshes.
The goal gave the Cantabrians courage to maintain their strong defense against a Celta who were unable to create a big chance to equalize although, with five minutes remaining, with the launch of a corner kick, it also had a dose fortunately, at the meeting Own goal by Javi Castro.
The goal of the new visitor fell like a jug of water to El Sardinero and, almost five minutes later, it was in extra time, again Alfon, has no mercy on his former team and confirmed the return light blue with a final 2-3, which confirmed the Galicians’ classification for the next round of the Copa del Rey.
Technical sheet:
2 – Carrera de Santander: Parera; Michelin (Sangalli, min. 77), Mantilla, Javi Castro, Saúl (Salinas, min. 77); Andrés Martín (Pol Moreno, min. 85), Aldasoro, Vencedor, Pablo Rodríguez (Manu Hernando, min. 46), Íñigo Vicente; Karrikaburu (Arana, min. 63).
3 – Celta de Vigo: Villar; Mingueza (Carreira, min. 46), Javi Rodríguez, Starfelt, Marcos Alonso, Hugo Álvarez (Cervi, min. 46); Alfon, Fran Beltrán, Hugo Sotelo (Moriba, min. 73), Pablo Durán (Borja Iglesias, min. 66); Iago Aspas (min. 57, Williot).
Goals: 1-0, Andrés Martín, min. 8; 1-1, Alfon, min. 20; 2-1, Javi Rodríguez (min. 70, own goal); 2-2, Javi Castro (min. 86, own goal); 2-3, Alfon (min. 90+2).
Referee: González Fuertes (Asturian school). He yellow carded the locals Pablo Rodríguez (min. 32), Arana (min. 76) and Íñigo Vicente (min. 90+5) and the visitors Mingueza (min. 32), Fran Beltrán (min. . 40), Hugo Sotelo (min. 69) and Borja Iglesias (min. 90+5). Local Mantilla was sent off with a straight red card (mi.35) for grabbing a rival while he was the last man in the defense.
Incidents: Copa del Rey round of 32 match held at El Sardinero Sports Fields in front of 20,312 spectators.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
