Kenyan international Aldrine Kibet marked his first goal in Spain’s Segunda División on Sunday evening, though his strike wasn’t enough to prevent Celta Fortuna from going down 3-2 to Sporting Gijón at El Molinón – Enrique Castro “Quini” Municipal Stadium in Gijón, Asturias.

Kibet featured for 81 minutes, returning to club duty after pulling out of the Kenya U23 squad for the AFCON qualifier against Tanzania due to work permit issues.

Celta Fortuna made the brighter start, taking the lead through Óscar Marcos, who pounced on a long clearance from goalkeeper Coke Carrillo and finished coolly over the Sporting defence.

The hosts hit back through Antonio Casas, who scored twice in quick succession to turn the match around. He first levelled the score before completing his brace to put Sporting 2-1 up.

Celta’s afternoon took a further hit just before half-time when Pablo Meixús was shown a straight red card following a VAR review, forcing the visitors to play the entire second half a man down.

Sporting capitalised on their numerical advantage after the break, with Guille Rosas extending the hosts’ lead to 3-1.

Despite being reduced to 10 men, Celta Fortuna refused to fold and kept pushing forward, a persistence that paid off when Kibet found the net to pull one back and register his first-ever Segunda División goal.

The goal briefly reignited hopes of a comeback, with Celta pressing for an equaliser in the closing stages. Sporting, however, held firm to see out the win and secure all three points.

The result leaves Celta Fortuna 17th in the Segunda División standings after eight matches, with two wins, two draws and four defeats for eight points.

Celta Fortuna will look to bounce back on Saturday when they host Real Sociedad B, with Kibet hoping to build on his first goal in Spain’s second tier and help his side climb the table.