Girona 4-3 Atlético de Madrid
For the clash of this 19th matchday in La Liga, Girona (2nd) hosted Atlético Madrid (3rd). The Catalans, with a victory, could close the gap with Real Madrid, the league leaders, and put their evening rival ten points behind. After an intense match, Girona ultimately asserted their dominance over their evening opponent.
Before the latecomers could settle, Valery Fernández already caught Atlético off guard with a curled shot from the edge of the box, following effective pressing from the Catalan midfielders (1-0, 2nd minute).
Recovering from the setback, Diego Simeone’s players regained control of the ball to equalize against the Blanquivermells, thanks to Álvaro Morata. The 31-year-old striker, benefiting from defensive lapses by Miguel Gutiérrez, perfectly placed a unstoppable cross-shot past Paulo Gazzaniga (1-1, 14th minute).
Confident in their strength, Girona continued to press, pushing the Colchoneros into making mistakes. This bet paid off as Sávio capitalized on Koke’s loss of the ball in his own box to propel it into Jan Oblak’s net (2-1, 27th minute).
Not satisfied, Míchel’s men further pressed the Madrid team on a corner kick, with Daley Blind taking advantage of Artem Dovbyk’s foot deflection to extend the lead (3-1, 39th minute). However, Morata once again reduced the deficit and secured a brace, capitalizing on the slow response of the Girona defense (3-2, 44th minute).
Determined to level the score, Atlético Madrid returned from the locker room with the same intensity as the end of the first half. The Colchoneros created no less than five clear chances in almost ten minutes before managing to beat Gazzaniga. Morata completed his hat-trick with an equalizer, facilitated by Eric García’s deflection (3-3, 54th minute).
Despite successive attacks and chances on both sides, Girona ultimately outperformed Atlético in injury time, thanks to Iván Martín’s left-footed shot that found the top corner of Oblak’s net, securing the victory (4-3, 90+1st minute).
