MADRID, 22 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Villarreal, with a penalty goal from Dani Parejo in the 101st minute, beat Girona (1-0) this Sunday to settle in fifth position in LaLiga Santander, on an eighteenth day in which Osasuna and Elche have met distributed the points in the Martínez Valero (1-1), a tie that does not satisfy either of them.
At the Estadio de la Cerámica, Quique Setién’s men sealed their fourth win in the last five rounds against a Girona team that played with one less from minute 78 and relied on the superb performance of Argentine goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, who stopped up to seven shots from the people of Castellón, including another maximum penalty that Gerard Moreno ordered in discount.
12 minutes after the initial whistle, Yeremy Pino was about to put the local team ahead with a shot that repelled the post, and Alex Baena, on the rebound, took a shot that was saved by the Catalan team’s goalkeeper. Christian Stuani, in minute 21, had the clearest of those led by Míchel in an action in which he was slow to shoot when he was left alone against Pepe Reina.
After half an hour, Mandi forced Gazzaniga to get a saving hand before closing the first half with a fortuitous clash with his teammate Jorge Cuenca, who ended up with a bloody face and who, despite jumping onto the field after the break, had to be replaced by a possible nasal fracture.
In the 73rd minute, Gerard Moreno found Gazzaniga in a cross shot to the squad with which he tried to surprise the albirrojos, who in the 78th minute were left behind due to the expulsion of Santi Bueno for a double yellow card.
The Spanish international would have the opportunity to redeem the three points for the ‘Yellow Submarine’ after a penalty from Oriol Romeu on Pau Torres in the 91st minute, but the Argentine goalkeeper guessed his shot. He himself would cause, in minute 98, another maximum penalty that, this time, Parejo brought up the score (min.101).
At the Martínez Valero, Osasuna dropped two points against an Elche for whom the draw is insufficient for their interests. The Navarrese team warned in the first minutes with several arrivals in the area and some shots without excessive danger, but it was ‘Chimy’ Ávila who managed to open the can. In the 20th minute, Kike Barja put a cross into the area that the Argentine, unmarked, finished off into the back of the net.
After the restart, Lucas Boyé tried with a somewhat defective shot, and in minute 67, but it was José Ángel Carmona who, with a shot to the top corner, managed to tie the game for Pablo Machín’s team.
In this way, Osasuna remains out of the European positions with the same points (28) as the sixth classified, Real Betis, while the Elche team continues bottom (6) 11 units from salvation.