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Liga BBVA
Celta 2 -1 Malaga
Sergio (c) - Foulquier Cabral Costas Planas (Jonny '63) - Madinda A. Lopez - Hupperts Hernandez (Lopez '76) Bongonda - Guidetti (B. Fernandez '78)
Goals: Recio ('9),
Guidetti ('74, '77)
MoM: John Guidetti
Celta began February at home against Malaga, a team doing well in the league. Los Boquerones opened the scoring through midfielder
Recio, who picked up a good ball from
Ricardo Horta, before turning and shooting past
Sergio Alvarez. They almost got another halfway through the first half, but
Alvarez managed to save spectacularly to keep out
Ignacio Camacho's header. Aside from Moroccan winger
Amrabat missing a good chance, little else happened in the first half, which finished at 1-0. Celta began to get back into the game after the restart, a header from
Bongonda crashing off the bar to groans from the home fans. Los Celestes finally equalised when
Guus Hupperts charged down the right end and whipped in a cross. The ball was met by the foot of
Guidetti who finished powerfully into the roof of the net. It didn't take long for him to add a second, this time a deft side footed effort from a
Nicolas Lopez cross.
Guidetti's late goals were enough to give Celta a great comeback victory, and all three points.
Europa League Round of 32 1st Leg
Wolfsburg 0 - 1 Celta
Sergio (c) - Mallo Costas Fontas Jonny - Wass A. Lopez (Madinda '76) - Hupperts Lopez Sarabia - Guidetti (Hernandez '62)
Goals: Hupperts ('25)
MoM: Jonny
A great first leg win from Celta, as they recorded a fantastic victory in Germany and kept a clean sheet to set themselves up well for the second leg. Los Celestes nearly took the lead some seven minutes in, some good passing finding
Nicolas Lopez in space in front of goal. Rather than shoot, he rather unselfishly laid it off to
Hupperts, but his pass was too long and the Dutchman could only hit the post from the tight angle. He atoned for this miss around fifteen minutes later however, heading home from
Jonny's fantastic cross to score a vital away goal. The home side did come very close several times throughout the match, with
Sergio Alvarez having a very busy day, keeping out efforts from
Schurrle,
Vierinha and
Max Kruse.
Alvarez's goalkeeping as well as the combined efforts of all of Celta's defence, ensured that they held onto the slim lead until the end of the match, and will be confident of securing a result back in Spain in a week.
Liga BBVA
Celta 1 - 0 Almeria
Sergio (c) - Foulquier Costas (Cabral ('56) Gomez Planas ('81) - B. Fernandez Madinda - Wass (Sarabia '56) Señe (Hernandez '74) Bongonda - Lopez
Goals: Bongonda ('77)
MoM: Nicolas Lopez
Makélélé's side recorded their third win in all competitions this month, this one a hard fought home victory over Almeria. The first half passed with little happening, both teams retaining possession and playing relatively cautiously, and the whistle blew at 0-0. Los Celestes nearly took the lead an hour in, but
Borja Fernandez's powerful drive only found the post.
Theo Bongonda finally hit the back of the net for Celta, a mazy run into Almeria's box ending with him gliding past
Gaztañaga and drilling the ball past the away 'keeper. The Belgian winger's late effort was enough to put Celta in front, and the whistle blew for full time at 1-0 to the home side.
Europa League Round of 32 2nd Leg
Celta 1 - 0 Wolfsburg
Sergio (c) - Mallo Costas Fontas Jonny - Wass A. Lopez - Hupperts Hernandez (Lopez '53) Bongonda - Guidetti (Gomez '76)
Goals: Bongonda ('56)
MoM: Hugo Mallo
A great win for Celta, as another 1-0 victory against Wolfsburg proved enough to send them through into the Round of 16. Roared on by some 31,000 fans, Makélélé's side played fantastically to win the second leg. Neither team seemed to have the best of the first half, however Celta did begin to impose themselves towards the end,
David Costas even managing to poke the ball over the line from a free kick on 45 minutes, only to see his effort flagged for offside. Some ten minutes into the second half,
Nicolas Lopez crossed into the box. The ball fell to
Guidetti, who knocked it first time to
Bongonda who fired home to make the score 2-0 on aggregate. Los Celestes managed to hold onto their lead, some fantastic defending contributing to keeping Wolfsburg from scoring a potentially important away goal. The home fans exploded into cheers on the final whistle, as they celebrated their team making it into the next round of the Europa League.
Liga BBVA
Atletico 1 - 1 Celta
Sergio (c) - Mallo Cabral Costas Jonny - Fontas (Lopez '61) Wass A. Lopez - Hupperts (Sandro '61) Bongonda (Sarabia '75) - Guidetti
Goals: Guidetti ('79),
Khazri ('86)
MoM: John Guidetti
A creditable draw at the Vicente Calderon followed Celta's Europa League success, as they shared a point with Atletico. A great save from
Alvarez denied
Ferreira-Carrasco an early goal on six minutes, and his counterpart
Jan Oblak had to make a similar effort to keep out
Huppert's close range shot not long after. Another save from
Alvarez at the end of the first half kept the scores at 0-0, and the half time whistle blew at a stalemate. A rather drab first half followed, but Celta finally took the lead going into the last ten minutes of the match. A great counter attack led to
Sandro playing a fantastic ball over Atletico's defence, which was gathered by
Guidetti. Celta's top scorer charged into the box before unleashing a curling shot that nestled in the bottom corner. It didn't take the home side too long to respond however, new signing
Wahib Khazri running onto a fantastic pass from
Koke and lifting the ball over
Alvarez to draw the game level. A good game from both sides and a draw was definitely a fair result.
Liga BBVA
Barcelona 2 - 0 Celta
Sergio (c) - Foulquier Cabral (Gomez '62) Costas Jonny - Fontas Wass (Hernandez '78) Madinda - Hupperts Sarabia - Guidetti (Lopez '62)
Goals: Suarez ('17),
Cabral OG ('47)
MoM: Lionel Messi
Celta finished the month with a tough game, away against Barcelona. With an unbeaten record so far this month, and two wins against los Cules earlier in the season, Makélélé's team would have been relatively confident of securing a result. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Suarez got the ball rolling for Barça, sprinting onto a
Lionel Messi pass and finishing past Celta's 'keeper. Despite the former Liverpool being offside, the goal stood and the Catalonians led 1-0. Barcelona had a couple of other attempts at goal, but the magnificent
Sergio Alvarez was there to keep los Celestes in the game. His excellent form meant that half time whistle blew at 1-0. The second half wasn't much better for Makélélé's side, as Barça doubled their lead just a few minutes in. A
Neymar corner met the head of
Pique, who's effort was palmed away by
Alvarez. However the ball rebounded straight off defender
Gustavo Cabral's head and into the goal, giving Barcelona another lucky goal. Despite Celta trying hard to get back into the game, Barcelona's defence was simply too good and they managed to hold onto their lead and claim a very lucky victory.
League Table
1. Real Madrid (61pts)
2. FC Barcelona (54pts)
3. Celta (51pts)
4. Malaga (44pts)
5. Atletico (44pts)
6. Valencia (44pts)
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16. Rayo (24pts)
17. Almeria (23pts)
18. Cordoba (20pts)
19. Real Valladolid (20pts)
20. Eibar (20pts)
Celta finished the month in 3rd, and have progressed to the Round of 16 in the Europa League.
Player of the Month
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Young Belgian winger
Theo Bongonda is February's player of the month, after a good showing in both the league and in Celta's Europa League success. Scoring twice this month, against Almeria and Wolfsburg, has reflected his overall contribution to the team, and with
Pablo Sarabia not demonstrating the amazing form he showed last season,
Bongonda looks set to be Makélélé's first choice left winger.
John Guidetti also deserves a mention, after netting three times and winning the man of the match award against Malaga.