MADRID, 17 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Valencia beat Celta this Saturday, which has gone seven seasons without winning at the Mestalla, with a resounding thrashing (3-0) on a perfect afternoon to add the third victory of the season and with the somewhat gray premiere of Edinson Cavani as a Valencianista, while Mallorca beat Almería (1-0) to continue moving away from dangerous positions.
Gennaro Gattuso’s men dominated the ball and possession and are now in eighth place with nine points, and they benefited from Cervi’s expulsion from Celta in the 60th minute, which led to the victory for the ‘ché’ team. However, Celta has already chained two consecutive defeats and is thirteenth with seven units.
The match started very lively and in minute 2 the controversy arose, with a possible penalty on Larsen, who fell to the ground due to a knee-to-knee collision while trying to cut Cömert. The contact existed, but the referee González Fuertes did not see it enough to grant the maximum penalty.
As Valencia has been accustomed since Gattuso came to the bench, the ‘ché’ team was the owner of the ball from the beginning, trying to string together their offensive plays from behind. But he found himself under very high pressure from the Galician team, always aware of a possible error at the start. All the Valencian danger came from the right side, with Thierry Correia and Samu Castillejo very active from the beginning with internships and very dangerous crosses.
However, the clearest was for Celta, with Iago Aspas, the national striker with the most goals this season (5), who launched a free kick at Giorgi Mamardashvili’s post, which he deflected for a corner. Valencia continued to dominate possession, but the Galicians allowed themselves to be noticed based on intermittent whipping, taking advantage of the Valencian inaccuracies.
It was in minute 23 when Valencia was able to materialize that dominance, but Diakhaby’s header went to the post to the sadness of the Valencian fans, who were beginning to doubt. The occasion had an answer just four minutes later, with a Larsen who sent his shot high, after Guillamón missed the start, after a bad pass from his front.
Gattuso’s men grew as the minutes passed and he found his long-awaited reward before the break, with a goal from Castillejo, which culminated in a great individual play by Samu Lino, leaving rivals behind with good driving and then serving the goal on a plate to the winger Spanish. Cavani, somewhat absent, had an approach after Gayà’s center, but it came to nothing.
Already in the second half, the same script was maintained, with a Valencia protagonist with the ball although without depth, and a Celta that was not quite comfortable in the Mestalla. Ten minutes after the restart, Samu Lino, a ‘toothache’ for the Galician defense, fell in the area after a clear contact, however González Fuertes and then the VAR did not see anything, he even received a yellow card for simulating the winger on loan for Atletico.
The game ended up being on the Valencian side in the 60th minute, when Cervi was sent off after a wild tackle, with the squad directly at Correia’s shins, leaving his team with ten and further complicating the Galician company. From there, with Celta overturned, Valencia’s monograph, which only suffered with an isolated shot by Larsen in a lateral free kick that the Georgian goalkeeper of the ‘ché’ team saved with reflexes in 71′.
Marcos André, who replaced Cavani in his gray debut, made it 2-0 with ten minutes remaining, after Kluivert had previously warned in a one-on-one against Marchesín. The win was rounded off by André Almeida, with a great shot with his right leg and putting the finishing touch to the third win of the season.
THE MALLORCA URGA IN THE WOUND OF THE ALMERIA
Earlier, in the first match of the day, Mallorca narrowly defeated an Almería that lengthened its bad dynamics and now has three straight defeats. The vermilion team was boosted by a great Maffeo, author of the only goal of the duel and savior of one against on the line of his goal. Javier Aguirre’s men are ninth, while Rubi’s team is fourteenth and is approaching the danger zone.
Both teams were cautious at the start, aware of the loot that was at stake between two teams that promise to be direct rivals for salvation. Ramazani and Touré were protagonists of the first approaches of the Andalusians, without success. An occasion in minute 15 was the last for Almería in the first half, with a Mallorca that began to believe it.
It was in the 25th minute, when Chumi cleared poorly and allowed Maffeo to send the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring. It could have made it 2-0 just before the break, but Muriqi was unable to successfully complete a transition started by Grenier and his shot went wide. In the second half, Almería deserved more, Dyego Sousa was even able to draw, but again Maffeo saved Mallorca and left the three points on the island.