He Villarreal attacked the Montilivi fort this Tuesdayimpregnable since September, with a solitary gol de Bertrand Traore (0-1) which fuels the enthusiasm for the Conference League, provisionally three points away, and which makes Girona’s dream of achieving second place in LaLiga EA Sports and competing in the Super Cup a little more complicated.
Míchel Sánchez’s team, superior in possession and on occasions, went through the second game without winning after the disappointing draw in Vitoria (2-2) and remains one point less than Barcelona with one more game. Marcelino García Toral’s team completed a survival exercise to achieve the fourth victory in five days, in a duel on the thirty-sixth and penultimate day of the championship.
The red and white dominance was clear from the first minute, although the first chance was for the visitors: a transition commanded by Alexander Sorloth ended with a cross-shot that did not find the goal or Gonçalo Guedes. Villarreal threatened to go on the counterattack with the speed of its two references and the quality of Álex Baena, applauded on his return to Montilivi. Immediately afterwards he was able to score through Bertrand Traore, a novelty in the ‘groguet’ eleven like Santi Comesaña, but Paulo Gazzaniga, key one more night, deflected his shot from the edge of the area.
Girona, uncomfortable at first, responded with a deflected shot by Yangel Herrera and improved as the minutes passed, attacking with many men and locking in their rival: possession exceeded 65% in stretches of the first half. Before the 10th minute, Artem Dovbyk was slow and did not know how to capitalize on a great ball from Viktor Tsygankov, who was very active like Iván Martín.
The locals had the 1-0 in their hands, but They were not as successful as other days: Herrera touched the left post, heading into Aleix García’s cross, and Tsygankov touched the right post with a first-touch shot after a ride by Sávio Moreira. It was the clearest chance of the first half and caused Villarreal to start trying to find time on goal kicks. Jorgensen also avoided the Catalan goal in a forced shot by Dovbyk, ill-advised, but more protagonist than Sorloth in their duel between top scorers.
Girona monopolized the ball, against a subdued rival who did not know how to link passes. And he did well to open the scoring: it seemed like a matter of time, but he didn’t fall in the first 45 minutes.
With the start of the second half, the control of Míchel’s team was even accentuated, as they hurt the rival both by being vertical and by being horizontal. Before the hour mark, Yerson Mosquera sent a death pass from Iván Martín to the corner and Sávio made the umpteenth run, leaving rivals behind, but he did not decide well on the front line. Villarreal was chasing shadows.
It seemed that the goal could only have been local, but it was a visiting goal: the Catalan defense knew how to stop Guedes from entering the area, but The ball, rejected, fell to Traore’s feet and the winger beat Gazzaniga with a cross shot and adjusted to his right post to achieve his first goal in Spain. But the 0-1 did not change the script or temper Girona’s ambition.
The red and whites responded to a shot against Tsygankov’s crossbar from the front and with a more than clear triple chance from a free kick: Marcelino’s defense took out the headers of Èric García and David López over the goal line and Sávio’s shot went wide slightly high. Miguel Gutiérrez and Sávio also tried while Villarreal’s time losses multiplied, locked up.
Girona looked for the goal, but they resisted and lost the match and the dream of playing in the European Super Cup went away, but they did find the applause of a proud fan base.
[object Object]0 – Girona FC: Gazzaniga; Èric, David López, Blind, Miguel (Valery, mi. 75); Aleix García; Tsygankov (Toni Villa, min. 81), Iván Martín, Herrera (Portu, min. 75), Sávio; and Dovbyk.
1 – Villarreal CF: Jörgensen; Kiko Femenía, Eric Bailly, Mosquera, Jorge Cuenca (Ramon Terrats, min. 66); Traoré (José Luis Morales, min. 81), Santi Comesaña (Capoue, min. 81), Parejo, Álex Baena (Manu Trigueros, min. 90+3); Guedes (Ilias Akhomach, min. 66) and Sorloth.
Goals: 0-1, min. 59: Traore.
Referee: Sánchez Martínez (Murcia committee). He cautioned the local Blind (min. 36) and the visitors Álex Baena (min. 43), Traore (min. 56) and Ramon Terrats (min. 90+3). Expulsion for double warning to the visitor Kiko Femenía (min. 41 and min. 90+5).
Incidences: Match of the thirty-sixth day of LaLiga EA Sports played at the Estadi Municipal de Montilivi in front of 11,440 fans.
2024-05-14 22:15:57
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