by

What a performance it was from Santiago Mina against Rayo Vallecano. Celta Vigo’s 19-year-old forward, who scored four goals from his five shots, gave us all an indication of what a bright future he has ahead of him, in what was undoubtedly the finest performance of his young career.

It was a lesson in finishing and grasping opportunities. It hasn’t been all plain sailing for the youngster this season though, where, as is often the case with young players, consistency has been an issue. Following what, on the surface, certainly looks like a breakthrough display, his team will be hoping he can reproduce these sorts of exploits more regularly as he matures as a footballer.

Paco Jemez’s Rayo side, who love to play attacking, open football, are regularly victims of drubbings due to their style, and Eduardo Berizzo’s Celta certainly inflicted one hell of one upon them.

Nolito had four assists, Joaquin Larrivey chipped in with a brace and the Chilean dynamo Fabian Orellana successfully completed a staggering 10 dribbles, which, on top of Mina’s four goals, proved all too much for Rayo to handle.

So in a sense, if there was ever going to be a game where Mina could’ve grasped the chance to cover himself in glory, he definitely picked the perfect opposition to do so.

The way he timed his runs into the box, as well as his forward runs higher up the pitch to get in behind Rayo’s defence, was absolutely crucial. It came as no surprise then that all four of his goals came from excellent runs that completely caught out his opponents.

Courtesy of Rayo’s highline, Mina was constantly able to make runs in behind. The away side started the game with a back three in place, but due to the vast spaces left out wide and the intelligent marking scheme employed by Berizzo, where three of Celta’s forwards would mark the the three Rayo centre backs, Jemez switched to a back four around the half-hour mark.

Abdoulaye Ba, Rayo’s left-sided central defender, was often tasked with marking Mina, and although he tried, the Senegalese struggled to deal with the Spaniard’s direct running and pace. This wasn’t helped by a complete lack of cover and a plethora of sloppy turnovers from the away side, but nonetheless, Mina’s work played a huge part in Ba’s first half substitution and Rayo’s switch to a back four.

Replacing Ba was Nacho, and he too had major struggles containing the Vigo born starlet.

Nacho also failed to come to terms with his breaking runs in behind. Seeing as Mina would position himself on his opponent’s shoulder, as soon as he saw a chance to break in behind, he did. Moreover, the superlative passing from Nolito, Michael Krohn-Dehli and Orellana made sure the tactic worked marvellously.

After a relatively quiet opening, the right winger sprung to life on 21 minutes, as he made a precise run in behind the defence to cooly finish home. The passage consisted off some beautiful work by Nolito, who eventually found Mina with a delicate pass into the box. From here, Mina only needed two touches – one to control the ball and one to side foot it into the back of the net. It was clinical efficiency at its best.

Then on 40 minutes, he doubled his tally due to another well-executed piece of movement near the edge of the box. A magnificent pass from Krohn-Dehli to spot his run afforded him this chance. Mina made no mistake with his left footed finish – chipping the ball over Rayo’s keeper, Tono, elegantly.

To complete his perfect hat-trick on 50 minutes, he surged forward from the right initially, before opting to cut inside. The run completely bamboozled Nacho and meant Mina was in an ideal position to get to Orellana’s cross first. His header that came next was smartly glanced into the far corner, and completed his treble in fine style.

The fourth and final goal arose via another superb link up between Nolito and himself. Mina’s run, that once again was made outside to in, outfoxed poor Nacho horribly, as he completely lost his marker. The other key component in this goal was Nolito’s unbelievable through ball that carved through Rayo’s defence. Upon latching onto the pass, Mina noticed the onrushing Tono, and duly rounded him to score. It was a fitting way to seal his fourth, and it sent the 16,457 strong crowd at the Balaidos into raptures, with the goal making the score 6-1.

The record breaking performance saw him became the fourth youngest player to score four goals in a La Liga game. Interestingly, Mina also became the third youngest player ever to feature for Celta when he made his debut back in 2013.

On a side note, and for futher indication of his class, his manager is none other than super agent Jorge Mendes, who certainly knows how to pick them.

Mina described the match as “an unforgettable day,” before going on to thank all of his family, friends and the club.

In David Cartlidge’s fantastic piece on Mina from 2013, he notes what a special talent he is, and quotes his former coach, David de Dios, who gave a great insight into his quality. “Everything he touches goes in. He can score with his head or foot, can volley, use his left or right, inside the area and outside it too,” he said.

While this was most definitely his best game in a Celta shirt, Mina still has plenty of work to do in order to improve his overall game.

Gaining regular starts has been an issue for him, which is largely down to the high calibre options Celta have in the attacking positions, but if he can build on this performance, he might soon make one of those coveted spots his own.

Under Berizzo, though, he’ll be given every chance to both improve and learn from a man who has a great footballing philosophy, and one who also asks a lot from his players (after all, Berizzo is a Marcelo Bielsa disciple). This crucial work should hold him in great stead as he embarks upon what appears to be a very bright future for the gifted prodigy.

Only time will tell how far he’ll go.