It wasn’t a win, but he enjoyed it. Yesterday’s draw in Mallorca thanks to a goal in the added penalty by Samu Saiz was a great joy and another important step for the growth of Girona. Míchel’s didn’t deserve to lose a balanced game played in extreme heat, and that they were about to do it because of a mistake by David López in marking a corner that led to Raíllo’s goal ( m.86). With virtually no time to react, the team didn’t throw in the towel and Manu Vallejo scored a penalty which Samu Saiz converted. The 1-1 final, including a scare from Abdon Prats, rewarded the efforts of Girona who, under the baton of a fantastic Oriol Romeu and with the contribution of debutants Toni Villa and Vallejo, proved to be ‘the most competitive to end up adding a very valuable point.
With the fear of Stuani’s heart problems still present, but with all the new players ready, Míchel gave a strong shake to the team that had lost the previous day against Celta (0-1). One training session was enough for Oriol Romeu to enter directly into the eleven in a clear sign of what he has to do for the team. Arnau, Reinier and Riquelme were the other novelties, in the place of Couto, Ureña and Stuani. Girona did not start the game badly with a very active Riquelme starting from the right wing and trying to go inside and kicking from outside the area. The player on loan from Atlético de Madrid tried up to three times and, especially in the second, he was about to open the scoring with a right-footed curling shot that licked the post. On the other hand, on the contrary, Reinier appeared and would appear very little. Yes, it was done by an omnipresent Romeo who, right from the start, showed how to spend them. Three fouls in twelve minutes caused the referee to warn him that if he continued he would be cautioned for repetition. The new pivot from Girona, at the same time, also exhibited exquisite class in the departure of the ball, throwing Castellanos a couple of times with a touch with the outside.
Girona had the ball while Mallorca, patient, controlled Míchel’s attempts relatively well. The Balearics took a step forward in the last quarter of an hour of the first half. First, Jaume Costa warned with a cross-shot that Juan Carlos refused for a corner and then Muriqi, alone from the penalty spot, headed wide when the fans were already celebrating the goal. Juan Carlos would again be the protagonist in the next action when he came out to refuse a corner with his fists and the referee signaled a penalty considering that he had touched the head of an opponent, to the disbelief of the goalkeeper and the Girona players. The VAR warned Díaz de Mera Escudero to review the action and, logically, he rectified his decision, overturned the penalty and withdrew the yellow card he had shown Juan Carlos.
Physically melted by the effort and the heat, the Girona players reached the final minutes of the first half with reservations and shouted for a break before the siege that Mallorca had started and that ended, without consequences, with the whistle of the referee
The second half started much more lively than the first half and with the clearest chance of the game for Girona. It was Riquelme, who else, who tried after a good interning by Arnau on the right side. The Madrid player kicked too hard and the ball went slightly over the crossbar. Mallorca would also try it through Kang In Lee, to whose shot Juan Carlos responded perfectly. The match was opening. Míchel moved the bench to bring in Toni Villa first, and Samu Saiz and Manu Vallejo, later. Before that, however, Mallorca would rub the goal again in a golden opportunity that Juan Carlos saved fantastically. Girona started to play with fire, but at the same time they got in some action, especially on the wing. Thus, Arnau finished off a cross from Samu Saiz by licking the post.
Ultimate madness
The game was coming to an end and it felt like the score would stay as it had started. However, he went crazy in the final minutes. Mallorca punished a mistake in the marking in a corner by David López with a header from Raíllo. It seemed that there was no time for the reaction and that the three points would stay in Son Moix. It wouldn’t be like that. Girona did not give up, took pride and looked for a tie until the prize was found.
The mobility of the three freshman men allowed the team to have legs and in a quick counter-attack, Copete brought down Manu Vallejo when he was about to finish off a cross from Samu Saiz. The penalty was indisputable and Díaz de Mera was not spared. It was already the second minute of added time, but Samu Saiz’s legs did not tremble. Without Stuani, to whom at the end of the match he wanted to send encouragement, the Madrid player was in charge of kicking and converting, deceiving Rajkovic very well. The joy of the players and the displaced fans was justified, because it would have been too unfair to lose the game as it was about to happen already in the added in a header from Abdon Prats at the exit of a corner which came out licking the left post of Juan Carlos’ goal. It would have been too cruel an ending.
