Girona 3-0 Rayo Vallecano
Girona went back into second place ahead of Barcelona on Monday night with a result that looked excellent on paper, but was far from easy. After conceding 7 in their last 2 matches, Girona sealed a clean sheet, and once again scored three goals, for the first time in over a month.
Inigo Perez took points off Real Madrid in his managerial debut with Rayo last week, and set his side out to battle hard against Girona, in torrential rain in Northern Catalonia. Far from smooth, Girona inched their way towards the Rayo goal in the first half, a miscontrol from Artem Dobvyk following a Miguel Gutierrez cross squandering their best chance.
Just over five minutes into the second half, Gutierrez was the provider again, cutting back for Viktor Tsygankov to place into the bottom corner from just inside the box. An excellent goal, Girona would continue to be imprecise in the final third thereafter though, with Dovbyk again unable to provide the final touch in the box.
With less than 15 minutes to go though, as Rayo tried to press higher, Pep Chavarria was over-aggressive in his bringing down of Eric Garcia, bringing him a second yellow and sealing the advantage for Girona. In stoppage time Savio Moreira ran riot, cutting inside from the left and finding the inside right corner for his first. After whipping his shirt off, which would be criticised by manager Michel Sanchez after the fact, he would start from wider for his second. This time going outside, he squeezed the ball past Stole Dimitrievski for Girona’s third and his brace.
It ended with Girona second and back to the top of the scoring charts, securing a vital win after defeats to Real Madrid and Athletic Club. Rayo competed well, but will need some more fine-tuning from Perez before they can feel comfortable in the final stages of the season.
