Girona will sleep as leader of the First Division. The Catalan team added its tenth victory in twelve days to confirm a stellar start to the season. Neither having played a Copa del Rey match on Wednesday, nor seeing how Osasuna came back from Iván Martín's initial goal, were enough for Míchel's men to give up. In a closely contested match against a fighting Osasuna, Girona managed to turn the score around thanks to goals from Dovbyk, Tsygankov and Aleix Garcia to take the victory (2-4) and take the lead alone, with nothing left. What Real Madrid will do tomorrow in Vallecas.
Míchel's team came out very well, suffocating Osasuna with their high pressure and recovering balls with ease. In the first minutes Yangel Herrera was on the verge of putting Girona ahead by finishing only coming in from the second line, but the ball went over the crossbar. Osasuna responded by standing in Gazzaniga's area with three touches to warn the Catalans that the match would not be easy.
The chances continued to be disputed until in the 17th minute, Iván Martín scored the 0-1 for Girona in a masterful play by Míchel's team that started in the own corner. Sávio started a very fast counterattack and Dovbyk put the ball in the small area so that Iván Martín, entering from behind, sent the ball into the back of the net.
The joy did not last long for the Girona team who saw Budimir tie the score in eight minutes. An attack on the left wing in which the Girona defense was not attentive. Moi Gómez finished at will and, although Gazzaniga managed to deflect the danger, the rebound fell to an attentive Budimir, who received the ball alone and did not forgive.
Osasuna grew with the tie and toughened the game in the final minutes, accumulating some cards, but Girona did not leave the game and both offered a very entertaining first half for the public that stoically resisted the incessant rain in El Sadar.
The second half started with Osasuna plugged in. Mojica tried his luck with a cross shot that narrowly missed the post. By insisting so much, fortune would end up smiling on the Navarrese team. At 55 minutes into the game, Ante Budimir completed Osasuna's comeback with a good header that Gazzaniga simply watched as it entered his goal. The Croatian footballer confirmed the great form he is in with his sixth goal this season.
Míchel had to change something to shake up the team and brought on Tsygankov instead of Yan Couto who left frustrated, unable to generate danger on his wing. A minute later, Girona would equalize thanks to a header from Dovbyk. A lateral cross that Catena did not reach to reduce the danger and the ball reached the Ukrainian, who put his head in and pushed the ball into the back of the net.
Tsygankov's entry was once again decisive for Míchel's team to turn the score around in the 80th. A blunder by the red defense that the Ukrainian took advantage of to transform into a 2-3 score that put Girona ahead again.
Jagoba Arrasate also moved the bench looking for the reaction of his team, who put a lot of pressure on Girona in a heart-stopping final few minutes at El Sadar. The match got heated, but Aleix García, already in added time, sealed the match with the fourth and final score.
Tenth victory for Girona, accompanied by nearly half a thousand fans in Pamplona, who are confirming it as the revelation of the season. Míchel already said that the two consecutive trips that the team had now could be a “turning point” if he scored in both. Three points in El Sadar and to prepare for the next duel against Rayo in Vallecas.
“Our league is not Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético. I don't dream of that league, but I do dream of Real, Sevilla, Villarreal, Rayo. That League can take you to fourth and sixth. Now I really dream of that League,” he confessed after the victory. “I dream of those positions, between fourth and sixth. I have seen a very determined team with a brutal mentality. We have 31 points, the goal of salvation is very close and we have to change that goal to go for second,” he added.
Míchel assured that he did not see a "ceiling" for his players after the great performance in El Sadar, for the coach, the game of which he feels "most proud" this season. "We played a truly great game, against a super difficult, mentally demanding opponent. We were a team with an incredible personality," he said.
