Girona back to winning ways with comfortable victory over Osasuna
Girona made a purposeful start to break the deadlock inside the opening 15 minutes at a damp Estadi Montilivi. Viktor Tsygankov's neat reverse pass found the well-timed run of Portu, who produced a composed finish beyond Sergio Herrera to register his fourth league goal of the season.
After struggling to contend with Girona’s early pressure, Osasuna had to wait until the 29th minute to produce their first shot in anger, with Johan Mojica fizzing a long-range shot past the left post of a relieved Paulo Gazzaniga.
The hosts ultimately saw out the remainder of the half to take a slender advantage into the interval. The Blanquivermells thought they should have been given the opportunity to double their advantage just after the hour mark when Savio went down under Alejandro Catena’s clumsy-looking challenge.
With the referee unmoved, the contest continued with a corner, which was met by the towering Artem Dovbyk and kept out by the quick reactions of Herrera.
As the contest drifted into the final 15 minutes, Yan Couto shimmied onto his left foot before attempting to sneak a shot in at the near post, only to see his tame effort comfortably stopped by the diving Osasuna goalkeeper.
It was then the turn of Couto’s fellow substitute Cristhian Stuani to spurn a golden opportunity to put the game to bed, with the experienced forward blazing over from a promising one-on-one situation.
The home side thought a second would never come when Sávio saw his 85th-minute strike chalked off for a foul, however, just moments later, both he and Girona were able to celebrate a legitimate goal when the Brazilian linked up with Aleix García to poke the ball into the bottom corner.
A second straight home win moves Míchel’s troops to within four points of Real Madrid, who play host to RC Celta de Vigo on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Osasuna remain in 10th spot after seeing their four-game unbeaten run come to an end.
