Girona's dream of reaching the Copa del Rey semi-finals for the first time in its history did not pass the Son Moix filter tonight, Michel's team being surpassed by the intensity of a Mallorca that played as if its life depended on it from the start. first minute. The first half condemned Girona, who went into the break 3-0 down. His surge in the second half left him one goal away from tying.
The vermillions already know what it means to win the Cup, although for that we have to go back to 2003, with Gregorio Manzano on the bench and Samuel Eto'o as a star.
The game looked very bad for Girona from very early on. The leader of the Spanish League, who had only lost one game so far this season, in those first 45 minutes was not comfortable at any time against the fifteenth-placed team.
Mallorca, with only Maffeo missing, came out very strong and plugged in and their pressure trapped Girona in their area. Juan Carlos immediately had to work hard to deflect a shot from Abdón Prats; Then it was Larin who, in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, shot the dummy. Girona did not give two passes in a row and the goal against was missed. It arrived at 20 minutes in a great drive by Dani Rodríguez and a delayed cross that Canadian Larin finished off at goal, his fourth goal in the Cup.
Michel's reaction was instantaneous. He sent three players to warm up. His team took a step forward aware that Mallorca defends well and had a very complicated task ahead of them. Blurred, this year's Girona can find chances with very little. At 25, Savinho had the first when he stood in a good position in front of the local goal and took a shot that was not the tie because the Slovakian Greif took it with a changed hand in a great save.
The bad news for Girona had only begun. In the midst of a nightmare, Michel's team was going to concede two more goals very quickly. In the 29th minute, a center forward with a very rough nature like Abdón looked for an angle and hit a wonderful left foot shot that made it 2-0. In the 33rd minute Larin closed a counterattack with a shot that hit Antal's elbow, with the defender's back turned. The VAR intervened and the referee signaled a penalty to the delight of the stands. Prats tricked Juan Carlos and made it 3-0.
For the second half, Michel had an almost impossible mission and he used all his artillery. He put into action two undisputed starters, Yan Couto and Dovbyk, his Ukrainian scorer.
Girona took a step forward and sought to trap Mallorca in their area. His problem was that Mallorca is a team prepared to resist. He feels comfortable when he doesn't have the ball and his only concern is putting long balls to Larin.
In the first ten minutes, Girona took six corners, but had none of the clear chances. After the hour of play Míchel introduced more gunpowder: Portu and Valery. In the 67th minute, Munuera Montero gave a penalty for Raíllo grabbing Stuani. The defender protested angrily and the referee showed him a yellow card and sent him off because it was the second. Stuani scored and gave the emotion that he had been missing until that moment.
We entered the last quarter of an hour with Mallorca very withdrawn. Girona did not have any clear opportunities but found the score 3-2 in a mess resolved by Savinho in the 95th. There was nothing more in the remaining four minutes although Girona continued trying with the locals desperately asking for time.
Mallorca is in the semis. Rafa Nadal, in the box, had a great time.
