VIGO. Celta de Vigo defeats Espanyol 3-1. Celta de Vigo was just to good to grab a decisive 3-0 lead with S. Mina (3′), I. Aspas (47′) and D. Suarez (82′). Espanyol reduced the distance with a goal (90′ + 2′) by L. Moron, but there was not much to do for them.

The match was played at the Abanca-Balaídos (Vigo) stadium in Vigo on Friday and it started at 9:00 pm local time. The referee was Valentín Pizarro Gómez who had the assistance of José Antonio Garrido Romero and Iván Masso Granado. The 4th official was Miguel González Díaz. The weather was clear. The temperature was cold at 9.9 degrees Celsius or 49.86 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 76%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

None of the teams had a clear upper hand in terms of ball possession. Celta de Vigo was in possession of the ball for 53% of the time vs. Espanyol that controlled the ball for 47% of the time.

Attitude and shots

Celta de Vigo was more aggressive with 57 dangerous attacks and 12 shots of which 5 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Celta de Vigo won the match​.

Celta de Vigo shot 12 times, 5 on target, 7 off target. On the opposite side, Espanyol shot 6 times, 3 on target, 3 off target.

Cards

Celta de Vigo received 2 yellow cards (S. Mina and H. Mallo). Regarding the opposition, Espanyol received 1 yellow card (D. Vila).

Standings

After playing this match, Celta de Vigo will have 20 points like Mallorca to hold in the 12th place. On the other side, Espanyol will stay with 23 points to hold in the 9th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the La Liga, Celta de Vigo will play away with Real Betis on the 2nd of January with a 9-6 head to head record in favor of Real Betis (13 draws).

Espanyol will play away agasint Valencia on the 31st of December with a 19-8 head to head record in favor of Valencia (5 draws).

Celta de Vigo – Formation

Celta de Vigo started with a 4-1-3-2 line-up (4-1-3-2).

The manager Eduardo Germán Coudet decided to play with the following team: Matías Dituro (6.6), Hugo Mallo (7.4), Joseph Aidoo (6.8), Néstor Araujo (6.8), Javi Galán (5.8), Renato Tapia (7.3), Brais Méndez (7.3), Fran Beltrán (6.8), Franco Cervi (6.4), Iago Aspas (8.6) and Santi Mina (8.0).

The home team had on the bench: Gabriel Veiga (6.6), Jeison Murillo, Nolito (6.2), Carlos Dominguez, Hugo Sotelo, Rubén Blanco, Miguel Baeza, Jose Fontán, Denis Suárez (8.3) and Hugo Álvarez.

Substitutions

Celta de Vigo made 4 changes: F. Beltran for D. Suarez (46′), I. Aspas for Nolito (84′), B. Mendez for G. Veiga (87′) and S. Mina for H. Sotelo (89′).

Best player: Iago Aspas​

The player that probably impressed the most for Celta de Vigo was Iago Aspas.

His rating is (8.6) with 1 goal, 48 passes (87% accurate) and 3 key passes. He was won 1 duel out of 5. He performed 1 cross.

Espanyol – Formation

Espanyol started with a conservative line-up (4-4-2).

Vicente Moreno Peris played with: Diego López (6.3), Miguelón (6.6), Sergi Gómez (6.5), Leandro Cabrera (6.1), Adrià Pedrosa (7.1), Aleix Vidal (7.0), Yangel Herrera (6.6), Sergi Darder (6.4), Javi Puado (6.0), Óscar Melendo (6.9) and Raúl de Tomás (6.6).

These were the players on the bench: Dídac Vila (6.4), Ruben Sanchez Saez (6.4), Fernando Calero, Keidi Bare, Nicolás Melamed (6.8), Manuel Morlanes (6.8), Loren Morón (7.3), Joan Garcia, Adrián Embarba, Fran Mérida, Álvaro García and Wu Lei.

Substitutions

Espanyol made 5 changes: Miguelon for L. Moron (58′), Y. Herrera for N. Melamed (58′), O. Melendo for M. Morlanes (58′), A. Vidal for R. Sanchez (74′) and A. Pedrosa for D. Vila (87′).

Best player: Loren Morón​

Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Espanyol was Loren Morón.

His rating is (7.3) with 1 goal, 4 passes (25% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 2 duels out of 6.

His performance was remarkable also because he started the match from the bench before entering the filed in the 58′.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the La Liga.​

• Celta de Vigo – Espanyol – 3-1