In a sport that carries as much passion as commercialism, that demands results and immediacy, Espanyol and Girona have gone against the imposed logic to explain that patience can be the best recipe. At the time, questioned and almost fired, Espanyol – then with Chen in the presidency – decided to trust Manolo González, who saved last year and is now flirting with Europe. Nor did Girona show any signs of doubt with Míchel, now freed from the sentence. And the two, consistent with their ideology, proposed in Cornellà the football that has defined them until now. Although last night, even though they shared the glory in parts, the victory went to Girona on penalties.
0
Marko Dmitrovic, Omar El Hilali (Rubén Sánchez, min. 55), Fernando Calero, Carlos Romero, Leandro Cabrera, Pol Lozano (Antoniu Roca, min. 80), Edu Expósito (Ramon Terrats, min. 55), Tyrhys Dolan (Jofre Carreras, min. 45), Urko González de Zárate, Pere Milla (Kike García, min. 69) and Roberto Fernandez
2
Paulo Gazzaniga, Hugo Rincón, Álex Moreno, Daley Blind, Vitor Reis, Arnau Martínez, Viktor Tsygankov (Joel Roca, min. 81), Thomas Lemar (Yáser Asprilla, min. 72), Iván Martín, Bryan Gil (Alejandro Francés, min. 72) and Vladyslav Vanat
Goals
0-1 min. 47: Vladyslav Vanat. 0-2 min. 92: Vladyslav Vanat
Referee Iosu Galech Parish
yellow cards
Arnau Martinez (min. 30), Omar (min. 44), Joel Roca (min. 68), Rubén Sánchez (min. 75), Gazzaniga (min. 75), Jofre (min. 80), Antoniu Roca (min. 81), Álex Moreno (min. 86), Vladyslav Vanat (min. 88), Carlos Romero (min. 88)
Before that, the new bitter rivalry between the fans was evident because of being the second best team in Catalonia – not because of history, where Espanyol has no rival -, since they had it before starting, reminding each other of rival mothers, separated by a border of police officers who avoided the disaster. Once inside the stadium, the tension did not diminish, to the point that they warned visitors from the public address system that if they continued throwing objects, they would be exiled. Incidents that did not escalate either, focused on the rolling of the ball, perhaps lulled to sleep by the triumphant lullaby that Girona sang with the ball at the beginning.
Because, clean exit from behind, circulation until finding the slot, protagonist football even in a foreign field if possible. And with Bryan Gil on the pitch everything leans to the left, cuts and runs, I play with diamonds. That and Lemar, who was everywhere, a foreman with the ball. Between the two of them they shelled Espanyol, first with a cross from Gil that Tsygankov was unable to complete; then with another assist that Lemar attacked to run into Dmitrovic’s mitts.
But Espanyol did not pale, generous in its effort, which makes it so easy to run after the ball if in the end it goes on the counterattack. Something that did not happen in the first act and that ended in the worst possible way for their interests because the referee awarded a penalty that did not appear to be from Omar on Rincón; and then the VAR forced it to be repeated – after a double save by the goalkeeper on Vanat’s shot and Rincón’s rejection – because Dmitrovic went ahead. The second time went in as a prize to the team that wanted the ball, that played football. The same did not happen in the resumption.
Espanyol intended to advance the lines and harass Girona from the beginning, to put electricity in a clash that gained decibels with the roars of the fans about the referee and his decisions that, of course, explained that they were anything but Solomonic. The spiciness came from Jofre with a left foot that Gazzaniga was able to stop, perhaps one of the last actions under the Argentine’s crossbar now that he has the shadow of Ter Stegen, who aims to seal the loan from Barcelona during the next week.
Espanyol’s harassment, which did not knock down, resulted in the commitment to a defense of five from Girona and two crooked shots, one from Jofre from the front and another from Cabrera in the six-yard box, a shot bitten off the crossbar. But the push didn’t go any further and Espanyol was left halfway and frustrated like its fans, who threw bottles at Gazzaniga – who had previously celebrated in front of the rival fans – after the second penalty goal for a Girona team that has won three in a row away from home. Patience award.
