Girona top La Liga as Dovbyk bags hat-trick in Sevilla thrashing
After scoring a brace in Tuesday’s Copa del Rey success against Getafe, Sevilla’s Isaac Romero made an instant impact in the opening 10 minutes at Estadi Montilivi, guiding the ball home from Adria Pedrosa’s cut-back to net his first LaLiga goal.
But despite taking an early lead, Sevilla’s perfect start quickly turned to disaster, as Dovbyk led a blistering Girona onslaught to register a seven-minute hat-trick. The Ukrainian nodded in from Savio’s lofted cross to kickstart an electric passage of play, before slotting past Marko Dmitrovic to put the title-chasers in front.
Now firmly in his element, the forward then unleashed a driven strike from the edge of the area to score his and Girona’s third goal of the evening, leaving a downbeat Sevilla side in a daze.
With the visitors on the rope, the merciless hosts continued to flood forward in search of a fourth before half time, and Portu went agonisingly close to netting his third league goal of the season when he sent his strike crashing against the crossbar in the final stages of a thrilling half.
After replenishing their energy levels over the 15-minute break, La Liga’s highest scorers resumed their relentless attacks in the opening stages of the second period.
Moments after Yangel Herrera saw his header flick off the post, Viktor Tsygankov guided Savio’s low cross beyond Dmitrovic to pile the misery on their relegation-threatened opponents.
Having been a mere spectator for the majority of the contest, Paulo Gazzaniga was forced into a rare piece of action to thwart Djibril Sow.
It proved to be a brief moment of respite for the visitors though, as long-serving club legend Cristhian Stuani added a fifth in stoppage time to round off a ruthless team performance.
While the Blanquivermells are in pole position once more, their Andalusian opponents languish in 17th place and just one point above the bottom three.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Artem Dovbyk (Girona)
