There is no one to stop this Girona. Míchel Sánchez's men finish one more day as the sole leaders of the Primera after defeating Alavés 3-0 in the 14th victory of the season in 17 games.
Artem Dovbyk twice – the second, a penalty – and Portu, after three actions originating from the boots of a stellar Yan Couto, were the scorers for a Girona team that dominated from start to finish in a very peaceful match against a Basque team who still doesn't know what it means to win away from Mendizorroza. At no time did Alavés worry Gazzaniga's goal.
The people from Girona did not blame Tsygankov's significant loss, which was a doubt until the last minute due to some discomfort that ended the last training session. Míchel chose Yan Couto for the right winger and opted to field Portu before Pablo Torre, who returned to the team after being absent against Barça due to the fear clause. For the rest, no surprises, no rotations and repeating the same team that was exhibited in Montjuïc.
In fact, the Madrid coach's commitment to restructuring the right wing once again worked out perfectly and Couto offered another performance. As soon as it started, from a cross from him, the first opportunity arose for the locals, which ended with Dovbyk finishing off with a too-forced header.
In the next one, however, and better positioned than anyone else, the Ukrainian giant found himself alone on the edge of the small area to collect, also with a header, a rebound from Sivera after another play by the Brazilian. This time Dovbyk did not forgive and added his 9th goal which, like last weekend, served to reopen the can.
And while the left wing with Miguel and Savinho this time went practically unnoticed, on the other side Yan Couto did his thing again and after a new great personal play he assisted Portu to send a tight ball to the post and score the second of the night. The man from Murcia, grateful for the trust that Míchel had given him by offering him the starting position, ran towards the bench and hugged the coach, celebrating that the team could go to the locker room with the peace of mind of 2-0.
But the party was not over because in the second half things started exactly the same, that is, with Couto making the visiting defense go headlong with an almost insulting superiority. So much so that Javi López had no choice but to give him a penalty so that Dobvyk could score the third.
The Brazilian attacker celebrated it the most in front of a Montilivi who chanted his name. From here and with the feeling of having plenty of minutes, Míchel gave a rest to Savio, David López, Ivan Martín and Yan Couto, and in their place came in less common players such as Arnau, Juanpe, Valery, Pablo Torre or Jhon Solís to close, against the fans (11,812 spectators), an unforgettable 2023.
