Pathé Ciss – La Liga Player of the Week

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An impressive display from Pathé Ciss helped Rayo Vallecano to a 3-0 victory over local rivals Getafe.

The Senegalese international managed to get his first goal and assist of the season as Vallecano moved up to 10th in La Liga.

Ciss’ goal allowed his teammates to end the game with far less pressure as his header in the 76th minute put his side 2-0 in front. As the corner was sent in, Alejandro Catena headed the ball back across the box and Ciss powered the ball home.

This was the 27-year-old’s first goal for the club since joining the side in the summer from La Liga Smartbank side CF Fuenlabrada.

His assist five minutes later confirmed all three points in the derby as he set up Radamel Falcao on his return to the Spanish capital.

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The midfielder’s pass perfectly took both the centre-half and left-back out of the equation and gave Falcao what would have been a simple finish for the striker. A pass of this quality may have picked up more attention but all eyes were focused on the Colombian.

Along with his goal and assist, Ciss played his role on the defensive side of things too as he helped his backline keep a clean sheet.

He made two tackles and two interceptions and managed to clear the ball from danger three times. He was only dribbled past once in the whole 90 minutes, won 100% of his aerial duels and six of his 11 ground duels.

Completing 30 of his passes, Ciss had a pass accuracy of 83.3% as he helped his midfield partners progress the ball forward. He also contributed to this by winning three fouls and achieving a 100% dribble success rate.

Los Franjirrojos are currently unbeaten in their last three games and will travel to fifth place Athletic Bilbao during the week before hosting Cadiz this weekend.

Andoni Iraola will hope that the early form of Ciss and Oscar Trejo along with the signing of veteran Falcao will help Vallecano steer away from the relegation zone and staying up in the top tier once more.

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