Eibar belief grows ever stronger
The Armeros registered a 2-0 away win over Celta Vigo
This Eibar side just keep on racking up the wins, with their latest triumph coming courtesy of a 2-0 success against Celta Vigo at Balaídos. This victory, which was secured thanks to strikes from Kike García and Pedro León, propels the Armeros temporarily up into the European qualification spots.
The opening exchanges saw the visitors lack the drive that they had shown in recent outings, but despite this, the Armeros soon got their noses in front. With 12 minutes on the clock, Iván Ramis launched the ball forward to Sergi Enrich, whose flicked header fell into the path of the on-form Kike García, who fired home to claim his fifth goal in as many games.
An efficient first-half display from José Luis Mendilibar's charges saw them reach the half-time interval relatively untroubled. Celta barely posed the Eibar backline any problems, as the Armeros dominated proceedings.
The visitors went into the break on the back of a fine first-half performance and with the feeling that they could have been leading by a bigger margin.
The second period couldn't have got off to a better start for Eibar. Just five minutes in, Bebé slipped the ball to the overlapping Antonio Luna and his cut-back was passed into the net by Pedro León. This was the Murcia-born midfielder's 10th goal of the campaign, a return which puts him level with Enrich at the top of the Armeros' scoring charts.
With Eibar showing themselves to be a well-organised unit, the hosts pushed up in a bid to claw themselves back into the contest. The introduction of Iago Aspas served to galvanise Celta, who went on to carve out a number of openings. The Spanish forward came close to reducing the arrears when his 83rd-minute free-kick came clattering back off the crossbar.
In the closing stages, the home side pinned Eibar back into their box, while the Armeros looked to break on the counter every time they regained possession. Claudio Beauvue had a golden opportunity to have halved the deficit when he found himself clean through, but he squandered the chance and no further goals were forthcoming.
This victory sees Eibar make it three wins on the bounce as they move onto 50 points and temporarily up into sixth spot, which would secure European football next term. The Eibar players have now been handed three days off and are next in action on Sunday against Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín (18:30 kick-off).