GIRONAIt is in meetings like the one in Seville that the fact of going up to Primera takes on all the meaning in the world. For Girona it is the perfect showcase to display a model without complexes. Any other newly-promoted club would have been intimidated as the home fans belted out their national anthem, an iconic image of state football, ready to savor another evening where everything went round. Accustomed to walking around Europe and lifting Cup titles from time to time, how should they not go over a rookie? But Míchel’s team is not so easily run over. In fact, Girona ate up Betis for quite some time, but a penalty and an individual error led to Borja Iglesias’ double (2-1). For very little they do not return to Catalonia with a large booty.
And that the Andalusians had the water up to their necks and taking the initiative in several phases against a team that had won four games at home without conceding a single goal. The last statistic lasted seven minutes, the time it took for Miguel Gutiérrez to draw a diagonal inside for Arnau Martínez, entering from the right, to surprise on the scoreboard. A move that, from the left lane to ending in the right lane, exemplifies the traits of a Girona who never looked like a newcomer to Villamarín.
Protagonist when he shouldn’t have been, the referee Ortiz Arias stirred emotions with decisions that are difficult to understand: in a short period of time he pointed out a slight contact by Bernardo inside the area – what hadn’t they said that the small penalties wouldn’t they whistle?’–, annulled a play by Riquelme for an offside that did not exist and expelled Míchel, enraged by Borja Iglesias’ penalty equaliser. Girona, against all odds, decided to rebel: the point was a treasure, but they wanted more.
From Reinier’s pal to Samu Saiz’s error
Reinier could have scored twice, but a soft finish down the middle after another assist from Miguel and a shot off the post prevented the team from seeing their shamelessness rewarded. If Betis tried, as in an action by Luiz Henrique in which Santi Bueno cut the action providentially, Girona responded by going out on the counter led by the impact of Oriol Romeu, who at all times understood when and with who had to join, looking above all for the mischief of Riquelme, who failed to score a goal in the second half, and the endless struggle of Taty Castellanos. Proper names of a collective that is offering a performance above expectations.
Because the reading is the same regardless of the result: the line is up. Miguel also rubbed the goal, in full swing, with the entire block up and refusing to conform. But as if he saw it coming, as if it were something of fate that will never make things easy for him, a mistake by Samu Saiz, who had entered to freshen up the attack, served the goal in the basket to Borja Iglesias , which he only had to define in front of Juan Carlos. It will serve to learn from, but Girona can go with their heads held high.
