Celta repel Viking raiders

A dominant display by RC Celta de Vigo saw them secure a comfortable 3-0 win against Viking FK in the UEFA Cup second round first-leg match at the Balaídos stadium.

Missed chance
Jesús Mora, José Ignacio and substitute Benni McCarthy left Viking to rue the chance that they missed after just two minutes. Peter Kopteff’s corner had bounced around the Celta goalmouth before finding its way to Trygve Nygaard, unmarked less than two metres out, but he had to lean back slightly and was unable to keep his header down.

Crossbar denies Costa
After that early scare, Celta were in near-total control off the game, and came close to taking the lead in the 16th minute. Alejandro Castro picked up a short free-kick and, although his attempted cross was blocked, the ball rebounded back to him, and his left-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area hit the top of the crossbar before bouncing over.

Quick goals
Celta’s dominance had begun to slip a little when their Norwegian opponents were stunned by two goals in three minutes. In the 35th minute, Catanha’s clever flick found Mora inside the Viking area. His initial shot was blocked but, after the ball came back to him, his low drive across the area was turned into the net by Ignacio.

Edu doubles lead
The situation got even worse for the visitors three minutes later, as a throw-in found Catanha inside the area and, although his shot was scuffed, the ball found Edu who made no mistake. Celta had further chances to further extend their advantage before the break, but had to be satisfied with a two-goal cushion at half-time.

Shots from distance
The second period began slowly, with the home side seemingly content with their lead, and both sides were reduced to shooting from long range, with Peter Luccin firing wide for Celta and Erik Fuglestad just off target for the visitors.

Decisive third
However, it was 3-0 to Celta in the 75th minute, as substitute McCarthy won the ball before curling a delicate shot beyond Frode Olsen and into the corner of the Viking net from 20 metres. McCarthy’s fellow substitute Eduardo Germán Coudet almost added a fourth from Edu’s delicate flighted pass, but Olsen got down to turn his low shot away.