Pedro Botelho was in action this evening as Celta Vigo took on Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their Copa Del Rey quarter-final. The Brazilian winger, on loan with the Spanish outfit until the summer, won the decisive penalty which knocked out Villareal in the last round.
Botelho started in his new role as a left winger at the Vicente Calderón Stadium as Celta snapped straight out of the traps and bagged an early goal. Roberto Trashorras’ fourth minute strike stunned the home crowd but Madrid hit back 6 minutes later when Tiago headed home Jose Reyes’ drilled corner.
The game then started to get scrappy as niggling fouls became the norm but Celta always looked dangerous on the wing. Botelho did have two unsuccessful dribbles at Tomas Ujfalusi but the Czech defender stood firm against the silky Brazilian. Sergio Aguero was kept quiet but he did look dangerous when he and Reyes combined down the right, but Pedro managed to get back and cover his full-back with a fine challenge.
The second period brought more scrappy challenges and fouls as Botelho moved into a central midfield role, but he struggled to get into the play. In the 72nd minute he took a smack across the mouth from Aguero and then really went out of the game. In the 81st minute Real Madrid loanee Joselu replaced the 20-year-old who turned in a hard-working performance yet failed to really make an impact. The away goal could prove to be crucial for Celta who are on the verge of something very special.
Also in Cup action, Mark Randall came on in the 36th minute of the Johnson’s Paint Trophy Southern Area final against Southampton. Winger Michail Antonio smashed the winner from close range in a fiery game. Randall was involved in a confrontation with a handful of Southampton players following a poor tackle on French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, who was later sent off for a different offence.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Did Pedro play keeper as well?? lol It must have been hard for him to shift into the middle. Has he ever played there before??:S
I just noticed… not only is Mark Randall actually from Milton Keynes…. but their away strip is Red Shirts with White Arms… aka Arsenal. Could he get more ‘at home’.
It looks like some of the young cats are performing quite well. This is always a good sign. what to a player that doesn’t fit into the plans or does cut the mustard?
I watched the whole celta vigo game and he played wing the whole time he was out there. He is good when he has a little bit of space to get running with the ball and take on a defender at pace. Seems to lack link up play and the rest of skills. I know him and Walcott are different but in alot of ways they are similar out on the wing.
Interesting about Randall, maybe there’s a conspiracy!
Botelho moved into the central midfield role for about 5 minutes of the second half. He didn’t really do much but won a couple of headers and really seemed a little nervous by the whole occasion. Like Shane said, he didn’t really have much end product to his play.
CJ…then go to those other sites if you dont like j’s
CJ, Then stick to Jeorge Birds site then, J does a fantastic job here, and I have a lot of respect for him.
Interesting point of view from cj. Almost as interesting as your IP address, which is exactly the same as the one Jeorge Bird left a comment with on this site with. Hmm, wouldn’t be trying to cause trouble would you, cj? Silly boy.
CJ…..lol are you trying to start “Blog Battles”? Read what ever one you want, i dont care, but dont be one of those spam promoter guys. Its just annoying.
Well said, Shane. Glad some of you guys are here to bring some sense to the proceedings!
By the way, what do you make of Botelho?
Shane is funny, I think we should make a tv series now between the 2 sites lolz
Great site J! Just thinking I’m sure Mark Randall is gutted now that he is out on loan with our awful injury crisis, as I’m sure he could of got some game time in the cup this weekend. Come to think of it, Kerrea Gilbert too, as we don’t have a recognized rb available, Do u think we should of waited until the end of Jan to loan these guys out? I know we couldn’t of foreseen the current midfield crisis, surely Gilbert was next in line behind sagna for the rb slot. Who do u reckon will play there on Sunday? Coquelin? Eastmond? Maybe even Senderos if he’s fit? I’d go with Coquelin myself.
Buying players and sending them onloan straight away can be a very hit or miss thing. Vela was a hit but Botelho looks like a miss at this point. He lack phsyical strength to compete in the prem style but doesnt really make up for it with speed of thought like some players do. Like I said he really only has 1 strength and that is running with the ball at pace but that isnt even at the level Walcott does. He also looks more of a 4-4-2 winger rather then a 4-3-3. He is the long legged pacy type winger that tends to get to the byline and put in crosses which is more for when you got 2 strikers in the box, rather than take players on toward goal, link up with the centermids, and finish in the final 3rd which you need from a winger in the 4-3-3. To me, he flaters to deseive. He is a lanky walcott with less attacking ability.
Jay, I will say I am glad to read the loan signings now. Before sometimes I felt like I was just reading a standard note rather then a true report on how they played. It is the players job to play well or not and the reporters job to report how they played. Not to dictate the report by which team you support. Before I would read reports on here then I actually saw the player play and felt mislead, now I feel the reports just give a good description of how they played whether it be good or bad. Basically good job, J.
Eastmond should play rightback in the absence of sagna
what about Raheem Sterling?
when is Wenger going to complete that transfer?
that guy is the real deal and we should latch onto him before united or chelsea get their claws on him
hi J. Do you think Benik will be given his chance against stoke? Even though he just turned seventeen! Do you think he at that level yet?
You are all losers, fighting about kids on a blog, where as we all support the same team boody poms
This is the BEST arsenal blog and i go on quite alot blogs, including blogs for the senior team, and i like people that are positive, you achieve nothing by being negative.Peace out J
So Randall’s contribution at a third division side consists of diving in late and then getting in a fight.
He’ll leave for good in the summer, surely.
It was Randall’s late challenge that caused a fight between a few players but he wasn’t fighting anyone actually. He was more interested in apologising to the guy who he just poleaxed while others pushed eachother around.
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