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

GironaIt was too good. Girona was one step away from stringing together their third consecutive victory and lost in a direct duel between promotion contenders against Castellón (1-2). Quique Álvarez's side took the lead very early on, but Abel Ruiz's sending off just as the second half began conditioned the Girona players' footballing performance too much, as they made a physical overexertion for many minutes which they ended up paying for in the final stretch, where two goals in five minutes caused the points to fly out of 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 putting on another defensive recital; 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 done since the season began, imposing himself on the opposing center-forward. If last week he shut down Otero, this time he frustrated Camara to the max, the proven goalscorer from Castelló, author of 12 goals last season and two in the opening rounds. Recently renewed to keep suitors away, if he continues like this it won't be long before they 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 game they had in their pocket slip away, ended up cursing the continuous errors they made in the numerous counterattacks they had. Especially Vladyslav Vanat, still at a lower physical level than his teammates, and who sent the chance for 2-0 straight at the goalkeeper on the verge of halftime. The great football for the Catalans only lasted twenty-five minutes: they are still not very consistent in terms of performance.

Abel Ruiz's recklessness

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, which had finished the first act in control and felt much more comfortable within the lack of control that reigned, was giving a serious warning. The cherry on top was still missing, which was Abel Ruiz's recklessness, as he made a mistimed tackle on Maty while already on a yellow card. The consequence was leaving Girona a 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 show themselves 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 turnout, paddled intensely to try to compensate for the difference in people 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 much 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 from Sienra and Álvaro. Girona, stifled and without resources, had played too much with fire until they ended up getting burned.