An absurd red card and two goals in five minutes bury Girona's illusions

GironaIt was too good. Girona was one step away from chaining a third consecutive victory and lost in a direct duel of promotion contenders against Castellón (1-2). Quique Álvarez's men took the lead very early, but the expulsion of Abel Ruiz just at the start of the second half conditioned the footballing behavior of the Gironins too much, who made a physical overexertion for many minutes that they ended up paying for in the final stretch, where two goals in five minutes caused the points to fly from the stadium.

The positive news of the night was, once again, Junior Holmes, who is a gift from heaven for Girona. The teenager, who will not be of age until next season, this time was not satisfied with just putting on another defensive masterclass; he also dared to find the back of the net. It was the seventh minute when he took advantage of a set-piece play to score his first goal as a professional footballer. Afterwards, he dedicated himself to the same thing he has been doing since the season began, imposing himself on the opposing centre-forward of the day. If last week he shut down Otero, this time he thoroughly frustrated Camara, the proven goalscorer for Castelló, author of 12 goals last season and two in the opening rounds. Recently renewed to ward off suitors, if he continues like this, it won't be long before they have to revise his contract again. It was a pity that his great individual performance did not result in a victory.

The big drawback for the Girona side was not finishing off their opponent when they had them on the ropes. Quique Álvarez's men, who let a match they had in the bag slip away, ended up cursing the continuous errors they committed in the numerous counter-attacks they had. Especially Vladyslav Vanat, still at a lower physical level than his teammates, who sent the 2-0 chance straight at the goalkeeper on the stroke of halftime. The great football for the Catalans only lasted twenty-five minutes: they are still not very consistent in terms of performance.

The recklessness of Abel Ruiz

The start of the second half was chaotic. Silence fell due to a goal by Juanjo Nieto that was disallowed because the ball had previously gone out. The Castellón side, having finished the first act in control and feeling much more comfortable within the disorder that reigned, gave a serious warning. The icing on the cake was still missing, which was the recklessness of Abel Ruiz, who tackled Maty late when he already had a yellow card. The consequence was leaving Girona with one man down, with more than forty minutes ahead.

Álvarez decided that Girona would close with a back line of five, condemned to endure the visiting onslaught and be seen from time to time. Castellón monopolized possession; Girona, which could not make any mistakes, breathed when it allowed itself the luxury of attempting an excursion, even if it lasted five seconds. Montilivi, which presented another great attendance, rowed intensely to try to compensate for the difference in players on the pitch. The fans are a ten out of ten in this start of the season.

Gazzaniga, forgiven for his past sins, held on as long as he could, but the visiting insistence was so great that, in a five-minute period between the 81st and 86th minutes, they found their reward thanks to two shots by Sienra and Álvaro. Girona, suffocated and without resources, had played too much with fire until they ended up getting burned.