Rossi scores hat-trick as Celta thump Las Palmas 3-1

Giuseppe Rossi scored all three goals for Celta in a comfortable 3-1 win over the visiting Las Palmas here.

The win on Monday allowed Celta to vault over Alaves into 10th place in La Liga, with 41 points from 28 matches, while Las Palmas, with 35 points in 29 games, sit in the 12th spot, reports Efe.

Showing superior pace and aggressiveness, the hosts dominated the opening 30 minutes at Vigo's Balaidos stadium. Rossi scored his first goal at the 12-minute mark, exploiting a defense blunder.

The Canarian side began to assert themselves as the match wore on, with Boateng getting a chance to equalise before teammate David Simon did score only to be disallowed on an incorrect offside call.

Seconds after that narrow escape, Rossi made it 2-0 for the home side in the 35th minute with a goal on the counterattack. The closest Las Palmas came to clawing one back before the break was a shot in the 41st minute by Vicente that hit the crossbar.

Up 3-0 thanks to Rossi's strike in the 56th minute, Celta relaxed slightly though they still came close to scoring a fourth goal at the hour mark.

Las Palmas played their best football of the night in the final half hour and Pedro Bigas scored for the visitors in the 80th minute, but it was too little, too late.

--IANS

gau/mr