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While waiting for the classic between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Girona is top of the Spanish league and continues its fairytale. The revelation of the championship is already winning, even if his play is not at the level he showed on his best afternoons. Celta were harshly punished with a late goal after a controversy that will cause displeasure in Vigo.
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Gazzaniga, Arnau Martinez (Tsygankov, Min. 78), Daley Blind, David López (Juanpe, Min. 47), Yangel Herrera, Iván Martín (Portu, Min. 66), Miguel Gutierrez, Aleix García, Dovbyk (Stuani, Min. 67), Sávio and Yan Couto
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Guaita, Carl Starfelt, Kevin Vázquez, Unai Núñez, Manu Sánchez, Jonathan Bamba (Óscar Mingueza, Min. 74), Luca De La Torre, Renato Tapia, Carlos Dotor, Aspas and Jorgen Strand Larsen
Goals 1-0 min 90: Yangel Herrera.
referee Isidro Diaz de Mera Escuderos
Yellow cards Yan Couto (min. 52), Kevin Vázquez (min. 55), Stuani (min. 76), Unai Núñez (min. 77) and Juanpe (min. 81)
A senior Celta delegation attended a meeting with Medina Cantalejo, head of referees, this week. There was talk for two hours, with pictures and grievances about which coach Rafa Benítez complained bitterly. Celta doesn’t have much football, but they aren’t lucky with their decisions either. In Girona he didn’t deserve to win a game in which he barely left his field, but he came close to that victory when the referee canceled a heavenly goal in the final stages of the tie after goalkeeper Gazzaniga tripped over Dotor . The goalkeeper tried to stop a deep ball, but the ball slipped out of his hands and tripped over the Celta player. The ball lay at the feet of De la Torre, who pushed the ball into the net. The referee disallowed the goal and the VAR didn’t say that’s my opinion. Shortly afterwards, Girona scored the winning goal.
The game was difficult, full of interruptions, incidents and mishaps without causing any problems for the goalkeepers. Before the break, Celta could hardly cope with two tentative new additions from Tapia and Bamba. Girona couldn’t find any space and Guaita hardly had to intervene. He managed to stop Dovbyk’s header from a corner early in the second half, the first shot between the posts for the local team. But nothing has changed. The stumbling, falling and stopping continued. At this point, Celta’s plan was to band together in a 4-4-2 system and play together on their own field with little or nothing happening. The club, with a win after eleven days, does not recognize itself in the relegation positions it occupies, but at least in Girona it showed no greed to impose its capacities and dominate its rivals.
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More could be expected from Girona, at least the classification helps to raise expectations. The painting training Míchel lacked precision, was uncomfortable without gaps, but after so much boring fiddling came a more hectic ending. Míchel searched for this by asking Portu and Stuani to carry out the attack. He found new solutions because the Uruguayan tower began to lower the balls that reached the area. In one of them, Miguel Gutiérrez was close to the goal with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Girona became even livelier when Tsygankov came on for Arnau. Couto took over the side, showing Míchel’s lack of trust in Pablo Torre, who warmed up on the wing without going onto the field. Then came the result, the controversy surrounding the disallowed goal against Celta and the local victory thanks to a Herrera shot from outside the penalty area. “My God!” Benítez shouted.
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