What a way to win! | OneFootball

Girona 2-1 Athletic

Great victory to celebrate together team and fans again in a magical noon in Montilivi. Míchel Sánchez's men were deserving of more in recent weeks, and they were rewarded with a crazy last-minute victory, with three penalties saved by Gazzaniga and the final goal by Stuani from eleven meters. Montilivi smiles again before the international break, and Girona goes up to twelve points.

Gazzaniga, a penalty-stopper!

Without any doubt, the hero of the afternoon was Paulo Gazzaniga. The Argentine goalkeeper prevented Athletic from taking the lead on three occasions, saving three penalties from Berenguer, Iñaki Williams, which the referee had to retake for not stepping on the line, and Ander Herrera in the last instance. A real feat, and he also saved another one on Wednesday against Feyenoord, and has saved four in a week.

Stuani, the goal man!

When Míchel called on Stuani, the decibels in Montilivi suddenly went up. The captain, who has specialized in last-gasp goals, did not miss his appointment and only needed five minutes to give the team a transcendental victory. In the first ball he touched, he forced Padilla to stretch to save a great hand, but it was precisely in the following corner that the decisive penalty came. Stunai shot it to the left of Padilla, who rubbed it with his fingers but could not avoid the ecstasy of a Montilivi that went crazy when he saw the ball in the back of the net.

Asprilla makes his debut as a scorer

Asprilla opened the scoring in the final stretch of the first half with a cross that nobody touched and ended up in the back of the net. The Colombian winger opened the scoring in a first half in which Girona and Athletic enjoyed good chances, and where the visitors equalized just after with a Sancet shot from close range inside the box. Asprilla almost scored the second after the two penalties saved by Gazzaniga, which gave the team wings, and Girona pushed much more until the end, with clear chances to score that Padilla saved.

Gazzaniga: “We were missing three points”

The team gave everything until the end and we got the victory, which we needed”, explained Gazzaniga at the end of the match. On the three saved penalties, he wanted to share the credit: “with the work of Juan Carlos Balaguer, the goalkeeping coach, we had studied the penalty takers and it is also his merit”.

The match statistics

Girona dominated and finished with 65% possession. Míchel Sánchez's men had more of the ball against a vertical Athletic who threatened with a more direct game, which is reflected in the number of passes, although the difference in terms of shots was small, with 14 of ours and 13 of theirs.