Stranded away from Montilivi

Girona can't find the formula to recover their good feelings away from Montilivi. Míchel Sánchez's men have run aground away from home, and today, against one of the best locals in the category, they lost again in a game that was more evenly matched than the scoreboard showed. The team did not feel comfortable against an intense and daring Atlético in the pressure, and with more presence in the opposition half. Even so, the Gerona side made progress, controlled the home side's threat well and put together some good moves even though they were not dominant, but they were penalised for specific situations in which they were not sufficiently solid.

Dovbyk opened the scoring early, in the fourth minute, and left the Metropolitano frozen. Sávio made a magnificent diagonal run to get past the first two lines, and Yangel slipped the ball to Couto, who set up the Ukrainian for the goal. The impetus with which the home side had started was halted and Girona had a few minutes of more control. In fact, Dovbyk again came very close to scoring the second from a Sávio cross that he missed by millimetres.

With the passing of the minutes, Atlético recovered their protagonism and managed to gain metres and presence close to the Girona area. Even so, they struggled to find clear shots, and until the penalty they did not intimidate Gazzaniga. Well into the half-hour mark, however, a set piece ended up being met by Miguel's hands inside the area, and Greizmann made no mistake with the equaliser from the spot. The final stretch of the first half was frenetic, and in the last minute before the break the match began to swing in favour of the home side. Sávio, very active during the first half, claimed a penalty for a fall inside the area that the referee did not signal, and in the next action, Correa headed in the second from a long play.

The Madrilenians extended their lead just after coming out of the dressing room. A bad rebound from Solís inside the area set up Griezmann to shoot from Gazzaniga all alone with a powerful shot that hit the inside of the crossbar and ended up inside. From this point on, Girona tried to react and had some good chances to close the gap, but Atlético were strong at the back, conceding little space and threatening a fourth. Dovbyk had the clearest chance alone in front of goal, and Portu had two dangerous shots. In the other area, Correa also missed uncontested, but in the end the scoreboard has not moved any more and Girona will try to get back to three points next Saturday against Cádiz in their fortress, Montilivi.