Girona graduates and wins by breaking stones in Cadiz

Cadiz (Special Envoy)The victories during the afternoon by Castellón and Eibar meant the first dose of real pressure for Quique Álvarez's men, who see that the top two ranked teams have 16 and 15 points in the promotion spots, even though the championship is still in an embryonic phase. The reaction did not take long and with the triumph in Cádiz (1-2), the third in four matchdays, they already have 10 and are in fourth place. Two strikes by Vanat and Carles Pérez in the first half were enough.

Girona performed a true survival exercise, having started poorly and also reviving the Andalusians, who were in the relegation zone and hadn't won a single match, just after achieving the most difficult part: a 0-2 lead, convincing enough to settle the night without any scares. The hosts failed to take advantage of either the Catalans' passivity or their decision to renounce attacking and shut themselves off blatantly for a good handful of minutes.

The effectiveness of both sides unraveled the mystery of who would come out better. While Cádiz had a goal-scoring chance in the very first play, following a blunder by David López that left García Pascual alone in front of Gazzaniga, who was alert to cover the goal, Girona—having already tested Ezkieta's gloves several times—went into the break with a very tempting advantage thanks to an uncontested strike by Vanat and a magnificent individual effort by Carles Pérez finished at the near post. Both assists were provided by Àlex Moreno, a dagger down the left flank.

Horror in the second half

The room for improvement for some players regarding collective attacking patterns, such as Van de Beek –the surprise in the starting eleven– or Asprilla –who had a bad night–, was compatible with a win that was at risk from the opening moments of the second half, when David López, attempting to deflect an Arribas incursion, scored an own goal and opened a door for anything to happen that should have been kept closed.

But Girona wouldn't be Girona if it didn't experience a multitude of different moods during 90 minutes. The tranquility that was breathed transformed into sighs and gasps, always well deflected by Paulo Gazzaniga, the protagonist of the second half with several crucial interventions for the final outcome. García Pascual, Zárate, and Vladys always found a good response from the Argentine goalkeeper. In the opposite area, Ezkieta didn't work much more, because the red-and-whites, who approached very little after the break, had already spent all their cartridges. Fortunately, they were valid.