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Celta Vigo logo
La Liga
Mar 2, 2015 at 7.45pm UK
 
Elche

1-1

FT(HT: 0-0)
Lomban (88' pen.)

Live Commentary: Celta Vigo 1-1 Elche - as it happened

Relive Sports Mole's live coverage of Celta Vigo's match against Elche in La Liga.
2

Elche scored from the penalty spot late on to secure a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo in La Liga this evening.

The home side took the lead at Estadio Balaidos when Michael Krohn-Delhi netted his first league goal of the season.

The Dane had a hand in the equaliser though as he tripped Victor Rodriguez to concede the penalty, which David Lomban converted with two minutes to play.

Read how all the action unfolded below.


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Good evening! It's half an hour until kickoff at Estadio Balaidos where Celta Vigo will be hoping to maintain their strong run of form against struggling Elche. Let's start with a look at the lineups.

CELTA STARTING XI: Alvarez, Mallo, Fontas, Jonny, Cabral, Radoja, Krohn-Dehli, Fernandez, Charles, Nolito, Orrellana

ELCHE STARTING XI: Tyton, Suarez, Lomban, Domingo, Angel, Aaron, Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Fajr, Pasalic, Coro

CELTA SUBSTITUTES: Blanco, Costas, Hernandez, Bongonda, Mina, Lopez, Larrivey

ELCHE SUBSTITUTES: Yague, Albacar, Rodrigues, Galves, Herrera, Gimenez, Traore

The in-form Nolito continues up front for Celta, alongside Orellana. The striker has scored three goals in the last four league outings for Celta, and will surely be a key player this evening.

The visitors are missing top scorer Jonathas, who is out with an injury. As a result, Coro starts up front, while Faycal Fajr and Mario Pasalic will pose a threat from midfield.

Elche have been in mixed form recently. Back-to-back wins at the start of February lifted them out of the bottom three, but last week's defeat to Real Madrid has left them perilously close to the relegation zone again.

Having gone almost three months without a win, Celta have been on the rise in recent weeks. They were unbeaten in February, and have three wins and a draw from their last four matches, including a somewhat surprising 2-0 over Atletico Madrid. A win tonight could move the hosts up to eight in the table.

Here are the hosts arriving at the stadium a short time ago:


Meanwhile, here are the Elche players making their way to the stadium:


PREDICTION! The the players due to make their way out of the tunnel any minute, there's just time for a quick prediction. Celta are the clear favourites given their recent form an home advantage, and it's difficult to make a case for the visitors this evening. I think this will be a convincing 3-0 win for the hosts this evening.

The players are on the pitch ready to get the action underway. It's not quite a full ground at the slightly rainy Estadio Balaidos this evening, but those that have turned out are making plenty of noise.

KICKOFF! Celta get the match underway.

The hosts have been dominating the possession in the opening couple of minutes, but a run forward from Orellana fails to trouble the visitors. There haven't been any chances to speak of yet though.

Orellana is on the charge again, and this time he manages to round a couple of defenders before sending a dangerous cross in, but Suarez turns it behind for a corner. It's whipped back in, but Tyton comes off his line to claim it. Orellana is looking lively so far, particularly down the right.

Elche have the ball down the other end for the first time as Faycal Fajr uses a superb first touch to control the ball on the edge of the box, but his shot is blocked and cleared by Cabral.

CHANCE! Celta are on the counter-attack, with Orellana using his pace to create plenty of space for the hosts, but Charles is unable to head his well-placed cross on target.

CHANCE! Orellana is causing all sorts of problems for the Elche defence early on as he slips though on the left this time before cutting back inside. He takes on the shot himself from the edge of the area, but Tyton is on hand to make the save.

Cabral picks out Charles with a long ball forward as the hosts continue to press for an early breakthrough, but the forward is brought down 35 yards out, giving Celta a free kick.

After the initial free kick comes to nothing, Celta quickly regather and launch another attack, but Nolito takes too long deciding whether to shoot or pass from the edge of the box, allowing Suarez to steal the ball away.

Elche have started to get a little more time on the ball in the last couple of minutes, with Fajr attempting a through ball before Coro is brought down 25 yards out, giving the visitors a free kick in a dangerous position.

CHANCE! Damian Suarez takes the free kick, comfortably lifting it over the wall, but it was always rising and ends up going well high of the crossbar.

Suarez gets forward again, and gets himself free out wide before blasting in a promising-looking cross, but there's no-one there to meet it for Elche. The visitors are definitely looking sharp on the attack.

BOOKINGS! Jose Angel picks up a yellow card for a hand ball, while Nemanja Radoja is also in the book for a shirt pull.

Radoja's shirt pull gives the visitors a free kick 30 yards out. Fajr curls it in and it's turned behind for a corner, but the visitors can't create anything from it.

CHANCE! Nolito uses his stunning pace of footwork to beat three Elche defenders before slipping the ball through for Michael Krohn-Delhi, but Tyton wins the ball with a well-timed tackle. The home fans want a penalty, but the keeper's challenge was perfectly-timed.

Neither side are keeping hold of the ball particularly well at the moment. It's been end to end stuff in the last couple of minutes, but each time the ball has got close to the area, the opposition have won it back and countered.

Orellana tries to make another quick run down the right, but Krohn-Delhi is brought down once the striker squared it to him. Orellana is on the move again moments later, but once again his efforts are halted by a foul.

Celta are starting to dominate possession again, but Elche's physical approach is limiting their progress. Krohn-Delhi and Cabral move the ball around in midfield, but they can't get it further forward, allowing Rodriguez to steal it back for the visitors.

There's a bit of a mix up as the hosts win a throw in, but another ball ends up on the pitch, resulting in the referee having to do a dropped ball. Celta come away with in, and eventually get it forward to Charles, but Lomban makes sure he can't make his way into the box.

Elche are enjoying another good spell of possession. They've really looked sharp when they've been able to get forward so far, but just haven't had enough time on the ball. They can't get a shot away this time though, allowing Jonny to press down the other end.

BOOKING! Hugo Mallo is shown the yellow card as he shoves Aaron down while battling for the ball with the Elche midfielder.

Elche are looking to attack again, but Adrian Gonzalez attempts a crazy shot from 35+ yards out, and ends up blasting it well wide. It was a waste as he had support forward with him.

Nolito loses the ball to Jose Angel, allowing Elche to quickly stretch the hosts with a counter-attack, but Cabral eventually makes the clearance for the hosts.

CHANCE! Fajr comes within a few inches of scoring a spectacular goal for the visitors as Aaron cuts the ball back inside for him to rifle the ball towards the top corner from 25 yards out, curling just a fraction wide.

HALF TIME: Celta Vigo 0-0 Elche

So at half time it's still all to play for as Celta Vigo and Elche head into the break level following a goalless opening 45 minutes. Celta looked the sharper of the two sides early on, but Elche really came back into it later on.

Here are some of the stats from the opening 45 minutes. The home side had a fraction more possession with 53%, but just two shots compared with Elche's three. The visitors are yet to have a shot on target though, while Orellana forced a stop from Tyton. Discipline has been a bit sloppy from Celta, as they've given away almost twice as many fouls, and had two players booked.

The main problem for Elche is that they are missing their top scorer, while Coro, who is the only striker on the pitch for them this evening, hasn't been able to get open often enough. The visitors have options on the bench, so changes could be on the cards shortly after the restart.

The players are starting to make their way back out ready for the second half as the sound of the theme to The A Team fills the stadium!

RESTART! The visitors get the second half underway.

CHANCE! It's a lively start to the second half as Fernandez crosses the ball in for Charles, who attempts an acrobatic overhead bicycle kick. It's on target, but Tyton gets down low quickly to make the save.

Nolito picks out Charles again with a stunning chip forward, and the striker appears to be clean through on goal, but he's flagged offside. Looking at the replays, it looks like Domingo might have actually been playing him on, but it was a tight call.

CHANCE! Elche have their first opening of the second half as Coro controls a high ball before looking for Aaron, but his finishing touch is lacking as he scuffs it wide.

CHANCE! Tyton was a big part of Elche's back-to-back wins last month, and he's having another good match tonight as he pulls off a reaction save to deny Nolito as the striker skipped around the left-back before setting up Krohn-Delhi, who saw his low finish cleared by the keeper.

PENALTY APPEAL! The hosts want a spot kick as a Orellana ball into the box strikes David Lomban on the arm. The crowd are livid that it hasn't been given, but in truth there wasn't that much that the defender could have done to avoid it.

BOOKING! Domingo has both feet off the ground as he throws himself into a challenge on Orellana. He doesn't actually get that much on the striker, but the nature of the tackle is enough to catch the eye of the referee.

Nolito has really come alive in this second half as he carves holes through Elche again to set up Krohn-Delhi. His first touch is poor, but Charles picks it up and unleashes a low strike, but it's wide.

GOAL! Celta Vigo 1-0 Elche (Michael Krohn-Delhi)

Celta have been looking pretty menacing in this second half, and they've finally got the breakthrough. Jonny created some space on the left before pulling it back to Michael Krohn-Delhi, who picked out the bottom corner with a delicate finish to deceive Tyton. It's the midfielder's first league goal of the season!

Elche are immediately looking to get back on level terms, with Fajr testing Sergio Alvarez with a long-range free kick. Rodriguez following the ball in, but he clatters into the keeper, conceding a free kick.

Jonny tries to pick out Krohn-Delhi again, but he's crowded out. Nolito is there to help out though, and he manages to win a corner. It's initially cleared, but a long ball back in almost sets up Charles, but he can't quite get the high delivery under control.

Coro thinks that he's through for a shot after taking a ball in from Fajr, but he handles it, giving away a free kick.

SUB! Elche make the first change of the evening, with Cristian Herrera replacing Mario Pasalic, who really hasn't contributed much tonight.

BOOKING! Gustavo Cabral is the latest player to be shown the yellow card for something he has apparently said to the referee. It could be costly, as Elche force a corner from the resulting free kick.

Celta take a couple of attempts to clear Fajr's corner, but Alvarez eventually punches it away for the hosts.

SUB! It's another attacking change for the visitors as Aaron is replaced by Garry Rodrigues.

CHANCE! Celta come close to doubling their advantage as Orellana whips a cross in from the right for Nolito, but his header is just wide.

CHANCE! It's been an action-packed few minutes as Elche quickly head back down the other end, with Rodrigues trying his luck with a long-range drive, but it's just high.

CHANCE! Tyton has to make another excellent save to stop Celta doubling their lead as Radoja is given time and space to play his way in from the sideline to strike a powerful, low effort, but it was just tipped wide by the keeper.

CHANCE! Celta are really putting the Elche defenders under pressure at the minute as Orellana is brought down just ouside the box. Krohn-Delhi curls it in forward Charles, but it's claimed by Tyton.

SUB! The home side make their first change as Alex Lopez replaces Fabian Orellana.

SUB! Meanwhile, it's a final change of the night for the visitors as Coro goes off, with Alvaro Gimenez providing some fresh legs up front for Elche.

Gimenez immediately has an impact, winning a free kick in a promising position, but Fajr's ball in is quickly dealt with by the home side's back four. While Elche continue to look threatening going forward, they're still looking for their first shot on target.

Nolito makes another fast-paced burst forward for the hosts, but Angel just manages to get in front of him to force the ball wide. From the resulting corner, Lopez tries to head it in, but his effort failed to test Tyton.

BOOKING! Lopez is the fifth Celta player to pick up a yellow card as he goes for a high ball, but is penalised for catching Gonzalez with an elbow.

SUB! It's another change for Celta as Charles heads off, with Joaquin Larrivey coming on in his place.

The visitors have a free kick, but Fajr's ball in is lacking accuracy, leaving Fontas with an easy clearance. The visitors quickly win it back and try to keep it alive.

PENALTY TO ELCHE!

GOAL! Celta Vigo 1-1 Elche (David Lomban PEN.)

There's nothing like a bit of late drama! Cabral thinks he's cleared the ball, but Victor Rodriguez gets to the loose ball on the edge of the box, and it brought down by a challenge from Michael Krohn-Delhi. It was a rather elaborate fall from the winger, and Celta's goal-scorer is livid that the spot kick is given. David Lomban steps up to take the spot kick, and sends Alvarez the wrong way as he slots it into the bottom left. It should be an interesting last couple of minutes!

SUB! It's a final change for the hosts as Pablo Hernandez is on for Radoja.

CHANCE! Celta are desperate to get back ahead as Lopez rifles it in. Nolito almost got a foot to it to turn it in, but he couldn't quite get contact with it. Meanwhile, there are four minutes of stoppage time.

Celta force a free kick, but it's easily cleared, allowing Rodriguez to make a run down the other end. He cuts inside looking for another Elche goal, but he hasn't got anyone forward in support, and gets crowded out.

Krohn-Delhi looks desperate to make amends after giving away the penalty as he tears down the left. His first cross misses all his teammates, but he forces a corner moments later. As it's crossed in though, the Dane drifts offside, letting Elche off the hook.

Krohn Delhi gets tripped in midfield, so the hosts will have one final chance. Alvarez comes out to take it, but it goes over Nolito's head and straight to Tyton.

FULL TIME: Celta Vigo 1-1 Elche

It'll be mixed emotions for Michael Krohn-Delhi as he makes his way off the pitch at full time. The Dane scored a wonderful goal to put the hosts ahead, but conceded the late penalty that cost his side the win. Victor Rodriguez certainly made the most of the contact in the box though, and boos ring out around Estadion Balaidos of the officials head off.

It's a valuable point for Elche as it leaves them two points clear of the relegation zone, and just one win off a mid-table position. The draw is also enough to lift Celta above Espanyol into eighth, but they're still a long way off a European place.

Well that's all from this match, but if you want more Spanish football, join us again on Wednesday for action from the Copa del Rey. Until then, thanks for joining me this evening. Goodbye!

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Lomban (L) of Elche competes for the ball with Karim Benzema of Real Madrid during the La Liga match on February 22, 2015
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