Madrid, Nov 25 (IANS) Two strikers grabbed all the headlines after Spainish La Liga matchday 14 — Carlos Vela and debutant Cristian Herrera.
Vela is the better known of the pair and the Mexican put in a stellar display to score all four goals in Real Sociedad’s 4-3 win at home to Celta Vigo, which saw the Basque side fight back after trailing 1-3 after 55 minutes, reports Xinhua.
The Mexican international is already well known after spells with Arsenal, Osasuna and Salamanca, but appears to have found his home in San Sebastian, but Herrera is very much an unknown player.
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The 22-year-old made his debut in the 80th minute of Elche’s game at home to Valencia and needed just four minutes to score his debut goal in the La Liga.
The 84th minute strike wasn’t just Herrera’s debut goal in the top flight, but it gave Elche a 2-1 win over Valencia and took them above their rivals in the league.
Herrera plied his trade with Elche’s B team in the third tier, Segunda B and although delighted with his goal, he accepted his moment in the spotlight with humility.
“If I have to go and play in the Segunda B again next week, then there is no problem, I will go into the game with the same high hopes as ever,” he said.
“I came into the game when my team needed me and I am really happy to have been able to give them the win. I have always worked hard to try and score goals no matter what division I am playing in,” continued Herrera, who last season was playing in the fourth category with Las Palmas B.
Herrera added that he tried to model himself on Paris Saint Germain’s Swedish international striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovich.
“I watch a lot of what he does on the pitch, but I am a bit more calm,” he said.
Herrera’s moment of glory could well have sealed the fate of Valencia coach, Miroslav Djukic, who had been under pressure going into the game following a disappointing home draw with Valladolid a fortnight ago.
Although Valencia were never expected to be title challengers, they were expected to challenge for a place in the top four or at least the top-six. But Sunday’s defeat leaves them in 11th place in the table with just 17 points from 14 matches and defeats in half of their matches.
Should Valencia fail to win away to Swansea in the Europa League Thursday and then slip up at home to Osasuna next Sunday, Djukic could face the sack.
