Their talisman is injured and Celta Vigo are slumping badly at the wrong time, just as others are arresting their slides
Celta de Vigo’s fans saw hope disappear before their eyes. An hour had gone and José Luis Morales had just scored Levante’s third but it wasn’t only what was happening on the pitch that brought the fatalism flooding back at Balaídos, it was what was happening alongside it. There had been applause and anticipation when Iago Aspas, their captain and their everything, stepped into the sunlight and began warming up, tracksuit off ready to return after six weeks away; now there was silence as he ducked into the shadows and sat down again, worry and resignation written across his face and theirs.
Back on the bench, boots off, mission aborted, Aspas watched powerless as the fans clapped Morales and whistled everyone else. He watched team-mates argue over an irrelevant 88th-minute penalty to make it 1-3, the tiniest flicker of life immediately extinguished when Borja Mayoral scored Levante’s fourth seconds later. He listened to supporters call for the president to resign – which is exactly what Carlos Mouriño, pointedly ignoring the mayor up in the directors’ box, would do if he could find someone to pay him enough to buy the club. And he watched another defeat and more disillusion, the final whistle blown to emptying stands. While he watched, he occasionally reached down and rubbed his calf.
| GOAL! |
Another beaut of a team goal from Levante to round off a fine win away at Celta Vigo #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/Qre6F08cYW
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This is great - Girona fans welcome the team back to Montilivi after their win at the Bernabeu earlier pic.twitter.com/aswtB8XBUE
| GOAL!! |
Villarreal double their lead against Sevilla just before half time!
A fantastic team goal finished off by Ekambi pic.twitter.com/0nJB7r7KpN
Eibar 2-2 Getafe, Celta Vigo 1-4 Levante (left), Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Atlético Madrid, Real Sociedad 3-0 Leganés, Barcelona 1-0 Real Valladolid, Real Madrid 1-2 Girona, Valencia 0-0 Espanyol, Villarreal 3-0 Sevilla, Real Betis 1-1 Alavés; (Monday) Huesca v Athletic Bilbao
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