Almeria (Spain), May 5 (IANS) Spanish football club Celta Vigo squandered a 2-goal lead here and were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw with Almeria, who remain just two points above the relegation zone with three matches left to play.
The visitors dominated the first half on Monday, picking up their first goal in the 17th minute on a rocket from Nolito, reports Efe.
To make the pill more bitter for Almeria, Nolito should have been serving a one-match suspension for accumulation of yellow cards. The penalty, however, is yet to be imposed as the La Liga disciplinary committee didn’t meet last Friday because of May Day holiday.
Almeria improved as the contest wore on but Casado’s poor back-pass to goalkeeper Ruben was exploited by Santi Mina to make it 2-0 for Celta (39th minute).
The home side began the second half with an offensive flurry and clawed back a goal (47th) when Thievy hammered home the rebound after Celta keeper Sergio stopped Ximo Navarro’s shot.
An energised Almeria went all out for the draw and Celta’s task became harder with Cabral’s ejection (54th) on a straight red card after he took down Thievy in the area.
Jonathan Zongo got the tying goal (67th), yet any hopes Almeria had of pulling out the win vaporised seven minutes later when Mauro dos Santos was sent off for a second yellow card.
No longer suffering from a numerical disadvantage, Celta went on the attack and might have taken all three points if Sergi Gomez’s shot in stoppage time hadn’t bounced off the post.
Celta, with 46 points, remain in ninth place while Almeria are 16th with 32 points.