Celta began the contest assertively, and despite being boosted by the return of World Cup semi-finalist Youssef En-Nesyri, an injury-ravaged Sevilla side were unable to create any significant chances in the final third throughout the opening quarter-hour. In pursuit of extending their unbeaten H2H record to five matches, Jorge Sampaoli’s side were also fortunate to remain with 11 players on the pitch, as José Ángel Carmona escaped a second yellow card for a late challenge on Iago Aspas.
After witnessing their appeals for a penalty turned away by referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, Celta’s dominance paid dividends shortly after the hour mark. Knowing that victory would be enough to keep Celta out of the relegation zone heading into the New Year at the expense of Sevilla, midfielder Gabri Veiga lifted the roof off the Estadio de Balaídos in the 33rd minute, running onto Aspas’ defence-splitting past before exquisitely lofting the ball over the onrushing Yassine Bounou.
Carlos Carvalhal’s side should have doubled their advantage with only seven minutes gone in the second half. However, Bounou came to the visitors’ rescue, denying Jørgen Strand Larsen twice in a matter of seconds. And Sevilla heeded those warnings with aplomb, putting themselves back on level terms in the 54th minute, as highly-sought defender Kike Salas glanced Joan Jordán’s corner past Agustín Marchesín for his first-ever La Liga goal.
Full of confidence following World Cup glory with Argentina, the returning Marcos Acuña was inches away from completing a sensational second-half comeback, as only the quick thinking of Marchesín denied the Argentine a contender for goal of the season. Despite a much-improved performance in the second half, even after losing Carmona for the final five minutes for an eventual second yellow card, Sevilla will regrettably look back at two points being dropped.
The result leaves Jorge Sampaoli’s side languishing in the relegation zone. Meanwhile, Celta Vigo find themselves only one point above the La Liga trapdoor.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kike Salas (Sevilla)
Two sides battling to avoid the drop in La Liga, Cádiz hosted Almería in their first ever meeting in Spain’s top flight. With just one loss in the history of their previous meetings against Almería elsewhere, too, Cádiz started like a side keen to avoid tarnishing that record. This strong start soon resulted in a first attempt for the hosts, albeit one that Rubén Alcaraz could not convert, as his effort could only find the grateful grasp of Fernando in the visiting net. The first chance seemed to open the floodgates for the hosts, with Álvaro Negredo’s header handing Fernando the opportunity to spring into action and tip the forward’s header over the bar.
Soon enough, however, Cádiz found the back of the net through Brian Ocampo’s strike off the inside of the post, but a swift VAR review ruled out the effort for a foul in the build-up. The VAR decision wasn’t the end of Cádiz’s luck turning sour, with Gonzalo Melero giving Almería the lead against the run of play before HT, converting into the top corner in expert fashion on the cut-back.
After the break, Almería very nearly doubled their lead as early as the 52nd minute. This time, though, Jeremias Ledesma did enough to deny El Bilal Touré's headed effort. As the game reached its final stages, the importance of that save grew as substitute Lucas Pérez proved to be a game-changer, finding the back of the net to equalise after latching onto a loose ball from a long throw-in to poke home.
The point leaves Cádiz in the relegation zone on goal difference, and Almería as high as 13th with a five-point cushion over the dreaded drop zone in La Liga.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lucas Pérez (Cádiz CF)
