MADRID, 20 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Almería suffered to overcome Girona (3-2) with a goal in the last play that was annulled for the Catalans by the VAR due to a foul on the goalkeeper, while Osasuna beat Espanyol at El Sadar by the minimum (1-0 ) and looks out for the European positions, in matches corresponding to the tenth day of LaLiga Santander.
Frantic match at the Power Horse Stadium, with an Almería team that beat Girona in the first half with goals from Baptistao, Touré and Emarba, but were unable to hold on to their advantage against the Catalans, who were about to perform a miracle with goals from Riquelme and Stuani, who missed a penalty. With the injury time almost over, the referee annulled the third for the Girona team.
The local team soon took advantage of Girona’s defensive imbalances and after a great play by Mendes down the right wing, they crossed into the area so that Leo Baptistao, completely alone, scored with a header (1-0).
Almería was still celebrating the first when another serious error by the Catalans allowed the second for the locals. A long ball from Fernando confused Bernardo, who did not get along with his goalkeeper and after clearing his own goal, El Bilal Touré took advantage of it to score the second.
Girona did not raise its head as Embarba saw how he delved deeper into the wound and converted a distant free kick into the third of his own and possibly into the goal of the day. Stuani was able to close the gap but the VAR warned the referee of the illegal position of the Uruguayan.
Míchel’s talk at the break served to get his team out of the locker room tunnel with enthusiasm. Barely a minute into the second half, the Catalans put together a quick counter that Riquelme finished off. The man of fashion in Girona took advantage of Fernando’s poor position to close the gap.
The visiting impetus returned to find its prize in the form of penalties, and although Fernando guessed Stuani first, fate gave him another maximum penalty just five minutes later, so that, now, the Charrúa shot the goalkeeper from Almería and put the 3-2.
With honey on their lips were those of Míchel when in the last minute of the addition Herrera scored the tie. However, after the VAR notice, the referee ended up signaling a foul on the goalkeeper. Almería catches a breath, comes out and moves away from the relegation places, while Girona is already third from last and still doesn’t know what it’s like to win away from home.
On the other hand, Osasuna narrowly defeated a poor Espanyol, in a decaffeinated match that did not find the goal prize until the second half, where the Navarrese knew how to make better use of their options to win the match.
After a dull first half and where the lack of rhythm of both teams stood out above the rest, the Navarrese, with Ez Abde in the lead, took the initiative in the game. The best local chance arose from the Moroccan’s boots, but after getting rid of three defenders, he ended up hitting the ball on a parakeet defender. Cabrera had the opportunity to put his team ahead on the edge of the break but Aitor’s save prevented his header from slipping between the three posts.
He changed the script in the second part, and the locals soon found the reward for the good game they were beginning to show. Abde took advantage of a short corner to put a ball to the penalty spot where Budimir, after winning the jump to his mark, hit a header to the Espanyol squad.
Aitor avoided the parakeet draw with his foot after a good ball from Braithwaite that Joselu defined low, but finally those from Arrasate knew how to hold their lead and even David García had the 2-0 but his header crashed into the wood. Osasuna puts an end to its bad streak of four games without winning and looks out for the European positions, while Espanyol looks down and together with Getafe, they score salvation (9).
