Rayo, with goals from Adrián Embarba in the first half and Jorge de Frutos in the second, both supported by errors by Vicente Guaita, achieved three points that propel them in the classification towards permanence at the expense of a Celta de Vigo that has gone fourteen games without winning in Vallecas in the First Division, since April 21, 1996.
The cold of the Madrid night soon turned into euphoria for the local fans because after four minutes Adrián Embarba took advantage of a bad clearance by Vicente Guaita with a volley, which was slightly blocked by Sergio Camello, to open the scoring.
The same protagonist, Embarba, tested Guaita’s reflexes shortly after with a distant shot that was repelled by the Valencian goalkeeper and whose clearance Isi Palazón failed to finish between the three sticks, sending his shot high.
That action was the play that woke up Celta, who, as soon as they settled on the pitch, began to cause problems for their rival, especially in the circulation of the ball with Ilaix Moriba and Fran Beltrán, former youth idol of the rayista fans.
At 26 minutes Celta’s improvement translated into a tie, the work of Borja Iglesias taking advantage of a good cross from the left by Ivorian Jonathan Bamba on the edge of the small area.
The Galician striker was also able to score the second five minutes later when he received a header at the far post from Franco Cervi and connected with a shot that went over the crossbar.
Rayo’s reaction was immediate and, in the next play, a corner poorly defended by the Galician team caused Florian Lejeune to enter alone and connect a header in the small area that, when going to the center, was saved well with both Guaita hands.
With this equality on the scoreboard, the game continued as the minutes passed until half-time, which served for both teams to refresh their ideas in search of new formulas to hurt their opponent.
The one that got onto the pitch the best was Rayo, who scored the second through Jorge de Frutos, who received a ball given by Camello that Marcos Alonso failed to cut and whose shot at the near post Guaita failed to clear.
-Celta did not resign themselves to leaving empty and, in the final minutes, they went determined to attack and were able to achieve the equalizer in a convoluted play that, at the beginning, was saved by Dani Cárdenas after a first header from the Swede Williot Swedberg and another second after a low rebound that the Rayo defense took out.
The Madrid team knew how to withstand those final attacks by Celta, including another solo header from Swedberg that went high in added time, to celebrate a victory that eluded the Galician team in Vallecas, in First Division. Since April 21, 1996, the Madrid team has eleven victories and three draws.
With the victory, Rayo has 25 points and is in ninth position, ten above relegation, while Celta remains with 24 in the middle of the table.
Technical sheet:
Vallecano Ray: Cárdenas; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Chavarría; Pathé Ciss (Valentín, m.65), Unai López; De Frutos (Nteka, m.86), Isi (Balliu, m.75), Embarba (Pedro Díaz, m.86); y Camelo (Álvaro, m.64).
Celta de Vigo: Guaita; Starfelt (Hugo Sotelo, m.82), Carlos Domínguez, Marcos Alonso; Mingueza, Ilaix Moriba, Fran Beltrán (Carreira, m.81), Cervi (Swedberg, m.81); Alfon (Pablo Durán, m.46), Bamba (Hugo Álvarez, m.69); and Borja Iglesias.
Goals: 1-0: M.4 Embarba; 1-1: M.26 Borja Iglesias; 2-1: M.63 Jorge De Frutos.
Match compact:
