GIRONA. Girona topped Espanyol to win 2-1. A penalty from C. Stuani was decisive in the 88min. All goals were scored in the second half. It was Girona to strike first with a goal of Arnau Martínez at the 53′. Then it was a goal in the 74′ minute to make things even for 1-1. Eventually, Cristhian Stuani gave the win to Girona in the 88′ minute with a penalty. Girona was truly superior in terms of ball possession (62%) and that was among the factors of its victory.
Girona remained with 10 players after Reinier received a red card in the 71′. Anyway, Girona still managed to win this encounter playing only in players. On the other side, also Sergi Gómez received a red card (83′). This red card was one of the reason why Espanyol lost the match.
The match was played at the Estadi Municipal de Montilivi stadium in Girona on Saturday and it started at 2:00 pm local time. In front of 12,841 spectators. The referee was Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias with the collaboration of Alejandro Estévez Iglesias and Ignacio Alonso López. The 4th official was Imanol Irurtzun Artola. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was pleasant at 15.9 degrees Celsius or 60.67 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 67%.
Match Statistics
Ball possession
Girona was in firm control of the ball 62% while Espanyol was struggling with a 38% ball possession.
Attitude and shots
Girona was more aggressive with 57 dangerous attacks and 14 shots of which 4 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Girona won the match.
Girona shot 14 times, 4 on target, 5 off target. Regarding the opposition, Espanyol shot 5 times, 1 on target, 2 off target.
Cards
Girona received 4 yellow cards (Oriol Romeu, Iván Martín, Taty Castellanos and Arnau Martínez). Regarding the opposition, Espanyol received 2 yellow cards (Denis Suárez and Fernando Calero).
(Girona) was sent off after receiving a red card in the (71′).
Also, Espanyol didn’t finish the match with 11 players after Sergi Gómez (Espanyol) was sent off after receiving a straight red card in the (83′).
Match Timeline
Standings
After playing this encounter, Girona will have 34 points like Celta de Vigo to remain in the 11th place. Regarding the opposition, Espanyol will stay with 27 points to hold in the 17th place.
Next matches
In the next match in the La Liga, Girona will play away against FC Barcelona on the 10th of April with a 6-0 head to head in favor of FC Barcelona (1 draw).
Espanyol will host Athletic Club on the 8th of April with a 14-11 head to head stats in favor of Espanyol (13 draws).
Girona – Formation
Girona
77'
90'
53'
71'
Girona started with a mid-fielder-oriented line-up (4-1-4-1).
The manager Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz decided to play with the following team: Paulo Gazzaniga , Arnau Martínez , Santiago Bueno , David López , Javier Hernández , Oriol Romeu , Viktor Tsygankov , Iván Martín , Borja García , Toni Villa and Valentin Castellanos .
The home team had on the bench: Ricard Artero, Bernardo Espinosa, Reinier, Rodrigo Riquelme , Juan Carlos, Miguel Gutiérrez , Valery Fernández, Cristhian Stuani , Yan Couto, Juanpe and Toni Fuidias.
Substitutions
Girona made 3 changes: Toni Villa for Rodrigo Riquelme (70′), Javi Hernández for Miguel Gutiérrez (77′) and Iván Martín for Christian Stuani (85′).
Best player: Arnau Martínez
Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Girona was Arnau Martínez.
His rating is with 1 goal, 43 passes (76% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 6 duels out of 9. He performed 1 cross.
Espanyol – Formation
Espanyol
Espanyol started with a 4-4-1-1 line-up (4-4-1-1).
Diego Martínez Penas played with: Fernando Pacheco , Ruben Sanchez Saez , César Montes , Sergi Gómez , Óscar Gil , Javi Puado , Vinícius Souza , José Gragera , Martin Braithwaite , Sergi Darder and Joselu .
These were the players on the bench: Aleix Vidal, Dani Gómez, Denis Suárez , Joan García, Keidi Bare, Fernando Calero, José Carlos Lazo, Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel, Edu Expósito, Álvaro Fernández and Nicolás Melamed.
Substitutions
Espanyol made 5 changes: José Gragera for Denis Suárez (62′), Javi Puado for Fernando Calero (85′), Martin Braithwaite for Keidi Bare (86′), Denis Suárez for Nico Melamed (90′) and Óscar Gil for Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel (90′).
Best player: Martin Braithwaite
As per our analysis, the most impressive player for Espanyol was Martin Braithwaite.
His rating is with 1 goal, 8 passes (62% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 4 duels out of 8.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the La Liga.
- Athletic Club – Getafe – 0-0
- Cádiz – Sevilla – 0-2
- Elche – FC Barcelona – 0-4
- Girona – Espanyol – 2-1
