Míchel's men fall in a hectic duel against Athletic and miss the opportunity to get closer to Real Madrid
MADRID, 19 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Girona missed the opportunity to cut points from the leader Real Madrid and succumbed again this Monday, in the last match of the twenty-fifth matchday of LaLiga EA Sports, against Athletic (3-2), who, guided by the double by Alex Berenguer and the goal by Iñaki Williams, settles in fifth place.
After Carlo Ancelotti's team drew in Vallecas (1-1), the Catalan team, which the previous weekend lost resoundingly against the white team (4-0), could not respond with authority and gave up against the forceful Basque team, which leaves them with 56 points in the table, six from the top of the classification. The 'lions', for their part, have 49 points, just two behind Atlético de Madrid in fourth place.
It only took two minutes for the San Mamés scoreboard to move in a brilliant start by Ernesto Valverde's team; An error by Aleix García in the release of the ball after a throw-in was taken advantage of by Alex Berenguer to take the ball and send it with a left foot into the back of the net defended by Paulo Gazzaniga.
Without respite for either team, Iñaki Williams touched the second in a shot that narrowly missed, and the Ukrainian Viktor Tsygankov responded with a screw shot that Unai Simón deflected. The first quarter of an hour had not yet passed.
The eldest Williams, already in the 24th minute, found the woodwork in an individual action that almost ended with a prize, before Lekue had to leave the field injured.
Despite the setback, the Bilbao team put pressure on the Catalans, who suffered in the first half at 'La Catedral'. However, as soon as the match resumed, Iván Martín scored a cross into the ball that Tsygankov caught to equalize the match for Míchel's team (min.48).
The match had become a road race that benefited, above all, the Basque team. In the 56th minute, Berenguer again took advantage of another mistake by Miguel Gutiérrez at the start to score second, and Iñaki Williams, just three minutes later, gained position over the Madrid defender to make it 3-1.
The double blow stunned the white-red team, who still reacted with a quarter of an hour remaining with a shot from Eric García to Aleix García's center that closed the gap (min.74). However, despite trying insistently in the final minutes, it was not enough and they suffered their second consecutive defeat, third so far this year in the domestic competition.