Ghana’s Aidoo features as Celta Vigo climb up La Liga table

Ghana defender Joseph Aidoo featured for the third game in succession as his Celta Vigo side recorded an emphatic 6-0 win over Deportivo Alaves in La Liga on Sunday.

Despite helping Celta keep a clean sheet in midweek in the 0-0 stalemate against Real Valladolid, the defender started from the bench and was brought on in the 72nd minute.

Goals from Jeison Murillo, Iago Aspas, Nolito, Santi Mina and Rafinha’s brace saw the Sky Blues take advantage of the spaces left by 10-men Alaves.

Martin Aguirregabiria received a straight red card for a high-foot challenge on Rafinha, leaving Babazorros depleted for most of the match.

Before Sunday’s encounter, Oscar Garcia’s men were hovering a point above the relegation zone, but the win took them up to 16th with 30 points, four adrift of 18th-placed Real Mallorca with eight games left in the current campaign.

Black Stars defender Aidoo replaced Jeison Murillo for his 26th appearance of the season, making him one of Garcia’s most important men this campaign with 2031 minutes played.

4 – @RCCeltaEN ‘s 6-0 is their biggest in @LaLigaEN since December 1954 (8-1 versus Atlético Madrid). Party. pic.twitter.com/ApRCu2v5gg

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 21, 2020

Only Aspas, Nestor Araujo, Lucas Olaza and Ruben Blanco have played more minutes than him in his maiden season in the Spanish top tier since arriving in the summer form Racing Genk.

Ghana’s new coach Charles ‘CK’ Akonnor had named Aidoo amongst his four centre-backs in his squad that was scheduled to play Sudan in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers prior to the Covid-19 hiatus.

Akonnor, a former captain of Ghana, replaced Kwasi Appiah and has been tasked with qualifying Ghana for the 2021 Afcon and 2022 World Cup.

Aidoo is expected to form a long-term partnership with Germany-based defender Kasim Adams Nuhu at the heart of the Black Stars’ defence.

Aidoo has been capped five times for Ghana.