02.10.2022 18:26 h

High-flying Real Betis stumble at Celta Vigo

Real Betis fell to a 1-0 defeat at Celta Vigo on Sunday in La Liga, playing most of the game with 10 men after Luiz Felipe's 20th-minute red card.

Gabriel Veiga slammed home in the opening stages from distance for the hosts at Balaidos and things got worse for high-flying Betis when Felipe dragged down Jorgen Strand Larsen as the Celta striker ran through on goal.

Agustin Marchesin made good saves to deny Willian Jose and Aitor Ruibal as Betis pressed for an equaliser, but could not produce one, falling to their second defeat of the campaign.

The result leaves Betis provisionally fourth, four points behind leaders Barcelona, while Celta climbed to 10th.

Earlier, Espanyol and Valencia shared a thrilling 2-2 draw which saw both sides reduced to 10 men after red cards for Martin Braithwaite and Marcos Andre respectively.

Valencia snatched a point deep into stoppage time in bizarre fashion when Eray Comert's hopeful lob forward was not stopped by Espanyol goalkeeper Alvaro Fernandez, the ball dipping under the crossbar and into his net.

Later Sunday, Girona welcome Real Sociedad and Real Madrid host Osasuna.

La Liga teams are observing a minute's silence before matches to pay respect after the Indonesian stadium disaster on Saturday in which at least 125 people died.