Celta Vigo 1-1 Las Palmas
Las Palmas extended their winless run to 12 matches on Monday night against an in-form Celta Vigo side, in a match that both sides will feel was a missed opportunity.
Although Borja Iglesias and Alfon Gonzalez forced saves from Jasper Cillessen in the first half, and the majority of it was played in the Las Palmas half, the Canary Islanders would have been happy with the fact they limited the Galicians to half-chances throughout the opening period. Their rare foray into the Celta half also brought a save from Vicente Guaita, and a close shot from Fabio Silva.
Cillessen was an unfortunate victim of a challenge with Iglesias, and ended up stretchered off with an abdominal injury, for which he was sent to hospital after the game for further tests. His replacement, Dinko Horkas, could not keep out the one moment of magic in the first half though, with Alfon given too much space on the left side of the box to curl one into the corner in stoppage time.
It took Las Palmas all of two minutes to find the equaliser in the second half though. Shot out of a cannon, Oliver McBurnie squared a ball across the box from the right side, and after a brilliant dummy from Silva, it was Alberto Moleiro who slotted the ball into the corner for a beautiful equaliser. Now attacking with much more aggression, Las Palmas caused issues when they did get out of their own half.
With 20 minutes to go, Las Palmas thought they had gone in front, when another good move again down the right forced a save from Guaita. Silva took the rebound on his chest without thought and bulleted the ball between Guaita’s legs, but to the fury of Diego Martinez during and after the game, McBurnie was ruled to have been interfering with play in the build-up.
Celta continued to dominate territory, and Marcos Alonso forced a couple of smart saves from venomous efforts, but ultimately, the home side continued to struggle for clear openings. For once, Iago Aspas’ flicks and fleet-foot did not come off, a symptom of the frustration for Claudio Giraldez.
Las Palmas remain 19th, now just a point off safety, but will feel their disallowed goal robbed them of the chance to get out of it. They will host Osasuna next Monday, who are in similarly poor form. Celta are now level on points with Rayo Vallecano in seventh, but similarly will feel that a European place requires wins on nights like these.
