GIRONA: Girona clinc­hed a thrilling 4-3 victory at home to Leganes who equalised twice in a La Liga goalfest on Saturday.

Girona’s Miguel Gutie­rrez opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a close-range volley that hit goalkeeper Marko Dmi­trovic on the leg and deflected into the net.

Leganes equalised three minutes later as Renato Tapia fired home a well-placed shot from outside the box.

Girona regained the lead in the 31st with Arnau Martinez’s low header but Juan Cruz levelled again with a precise shot from the edge of the box four minutes before halftime.

Just past the hour Girona were ahead once more when substitute Crist­hian Stuani converted a penalty after Matija Nastasic fouled Bojan Miovski.

A 73rd-minute own goal by Sergio Gonzalez gave Girona a fourth before a long-range strike from Leganes’ Munir El Had­dadi four minutes later cut the deficit but it was not enough.

Girona now sit 10th with 15 points, while Leganes are 15th with 11 points.

Girona manager Michel, though, criticised the decision to hold the fixture despite deadliest flash floods in Spain’s modern history.

“I wasn’t upset, but we shouldn’t celebrate anything since this match shou­l­dn’t have been played,” Michel said.

In Saturday’s first game Osasuna beat Real Valla­dolid 1-0.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2024