Iago Aspas managed to avoid an early red card with the help of a video review in Celta Vigo’s match against Deportivo Alaves in the Spanish league on Friday. Despite a tumultuous start, Aspas eventually scored the winning goal for his team in an eventful 2-1 victory at home. Initially, he was shown a red card for an incident with Antonio Blanco, but it was reduced to a yellow after VAR intervention.
Blanco’s assist to Kike Garcia allowed Alaves to take the lead ten minutes after the controversial incident involving Aspas. Although Aspas had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime, Celta managed to equalize in the second half through Williot Swedberg’s impressive strike. Aspas then capitalized on another assist from Swedberg to secure the win with a goal in the 84th minute.
Following two draw results in the opening matches of the season, Celta briefly held the top spot in the La Liga standings after their victory, pending the outcome of the late Friday match between Las Palmas and Sevilla. Barcelona is scheduled to play away at Valencia on Saturday, while Real Madrid, the defending champions, will visit Mallorca on Sunday.