GIRONAA team that defends like Girona does cannot stay in Primera. It’s impossible, of course. Not only do Míchel’s men not put a stop to it, but the bleeding is getting bigger and bigger and the problems, more serious. In Almeria, against a direct rival, the conceding defeat (3-2) has placed them, for the first time since the return to the elite, in relegation places. All alarms go off.
Above all, because there has not been a day in which the team has kept its goal to zero. It doesn’t matter if you play with a defense of five or four, as in Almeria, in which Míchel tweaked the drawing to bring Stuani into it and bite a little better in attack. At the time of truth, nothing at all. Because the fragility at the back is the daily bread and the ease with which Girona is getting smaller is worrying.
Many years of fighting in the Second Division between both teams, with heart-pounding play-offs play-off included, they predicted a balanced duel. It was aggravated by the situation in the classification, in which Girona has already squandered the cushion it generated at the start of the League: of the last five games it has drawn one and lost four, entering a terrible dynamic that has pointed out more the performance of a team that begins to have emergencies, especially in the state of mind.
If it was unforgivable that Leo Baptistao finished off a Mendes cross by himself, the second goal is a faithful representation of the lack of tension that the Girona players seem to have when they take to the pitch. The play begins with a very long strike by Fernando, the goalkeeper of Almeria, in the field of Girona. With a clear advantage for Bernardo in the rejection, Juan Carlos decides to leave. Intuiting what went through his mind is a mystery. The point is that Bernardo touched the ball backwards and beat Juan Carlos, completely sold and with a terrible lack of communication. Behind him came running El Bilal, who with the empty goal only had to accompany the ball. It was 2-0, four minutes after the first goal, and in the 17th minute of the game.
Stuani kicks two penalties, but misses one
Girona, which could not deploy their game either, surpassed in intensity, placement, structure, speed, precision and in all the comparisons you can think of, was about to give up completely when Embarba, in a foul far away, he took off his glove and nailed it to the spot with a beautiful parabola. Anyone who doesn’t follow Girona won’t understand how they came close to equalizing: matches are crazy in which taking something for granted is reckless. Chaos always reigns.
Riquelme, in a small act of rebellion, scored 3-1. It was a very quick counter-attack that caught the advancing Fernando and he only had to chip the ball over him. Stuani made it 3-2, with a penalty, immediately after having missed one that Fernando guessed perfectly. There was no lack of controversy, with another penalty not whistled on Bernardo and a goal disallowed to Yangel Herrera in the 97th minute. But if it wasn’t for the defense, these things shouldn’t have been resorted to.
- Almeria: Fernando, Mendes, Ely, Babic, Akieme, De La Hoz, Robertone (Portillo, 84′), Baptistao (Ramazani, 64′), Embarba (Pozo, 72′), Melero (Samú Costa, 64′) and El Bilal (Chumi, 84′). Coach: Joan Francesc Ferrer, ‘Rubi’.
- Girona: Juan Carlos, Arnau (Yan Couto, 69′), Bueno, Bernardo, Miguel Gutiérrez (Valery, 79′), Oriol Romeu, Aleix Garcia, Yangel Herrera, Riquelme (Toni Villa, 79′), Taty Castellanos (Manu Vallejo , 69′) and Stuani. Coach: Míchel Sánchez.
- Goals: 1-0 Baptistao (13′), 2-0 El Bilal (17′), 3-0 Embarba (38′), 3-1 Riquelme (47′) and 3-2 Stuani, penalty (83′) .
- Referee: Cuadra Fernández (Balearic Committee).
- Yellow cards: Yangel Herrera (5′), Bueno (36′), Ramazani (85′) and Bernardo (90+2′).
- Red cards: None.
- Stadium: Power Horse Stadium, 11,194 spectators.
