Celta Vigo storm back past Celtic with Javi Rodriguez double in four minutes

The celebration lasted all of one minute at Celtic Park. Mika Baur broke the deadlock right at the start of the second half, in the 46th minute, with a low finish by the left post that sent the stadium into a frenzy. But Celta Vigo turned the match around in just four minutes of the second half and walked away with a 1-2 win in the Europa League.

The script looked set to repeat itself: Celtic, needing points after arriving without a win in the competition, struck first right as play resumed. But Celta, who had controlled the ball from the opening whistle, wasted no time responding. In the 67th minute, Javi Rodriguez showed up in the middle of the box to head home a cross from Hugo Alvarez following a quickly taken free kick, leveling the score. Three minutes later, in the 70th minute, Javi Rodriguez struck again, this time with a right-footed shot from outside the box that found the right side of the net to make it a final 1-2 and complete a two-goal burst in a matter of minutes.

Dominance that had been building

The final score was no surprise given how the match played out. Celta controlled the ball more comfortably over the 90 minutes, racked up 22 shots to Celtic's 8, and created more clear-cut chances. Before the visitors' second goal there were warning signs: Liam Scales rattled the crossbar with a header for Celtic in the 62nd minute, while on the Spanish side, Iago Aspas and Ferran Jutgla tested the home goalkeeper several times in the first half without beating him.

The expected goals numbers, calculated after the fact from the match's shots, also reflect that greater offensive weight from the visitors: 1.636 xG for Celta Vigo against 0.679 for Celtic.

What stands out is that the preview pointed in exactly the opposite direction. Our model gave Celtic a 56% chance of winning, with 20% for Celta and 24% for a draw, with expected goals of 1.96 for the home side and 1.11 for the visitors. What happened on the field was almost the reverse of that projection: the team that went in as favorite scored first but ended up outplayed in every phase of the game.

What it means for the group table

The result hits hard in the standings. Celtic remain without a point after three matches, with a goal difference of -6, while Celta Vigo have 3 points from the same number of games, with a record of one win and two losses. Just 3 points separate the two sides, though the group stage still has a long way to go with plenty left to decide.

For Celtic, it makes for worrying reading: three games, three defeats, and an offensive output that isn't holding up even when the team goes ahead, as happened again at Celtic Park. For Celta Vigo, on the other hand, Javi Rodriguez's double in four minutes was the difference between picking up three points on the road or continuing to struggle to get going in the competition, and it paints the picture of a team that, despite the early setback, didn't fall apart and answered with authority at the right moment.