Failed To Beat Real Betis, Girona Waswas Losing The Throne Of The Standings
JAKARTA - Girona failed to beat Real Betis after drawing 1-1 in a Spanish La Liga duel at the Benito Villamarin Stadium, Friday, December 22 in the morning WIB. Girona was wary of losing her standings throne.
Girona competed fiercely with Real Madrid to fight for the top position of the standings. The two teams took turns to the throne.
Currently, Girona is at the top after winning two wins over Barcelona and Deportiv Alaves.
Girona is a surprise in La Liga this season. They broke through the elite league that made defending Barcelona champions stuck. Likewise, Atletico Madrid, who are ranked fourth, are already 10 points behind.
However, Girona's winning record was stopped by Real Betis in Week 18 of the competition. In a duel at home, Real Betis, who fell behind first, managed to hold Girona.
An additional one point did strengthen Girona's position at the top by pocketing 45 points. However, they are only two points ahead of Madrid who are below him. If they win over Alaves, Madrid will definitely replace Girona.
Meanwhile, Real Betis remains in seventh place. With 28 points, they are still trying to get into the European zone. Betis is still seven points behind Atletico who are in the Champions League zone
In that match, Girona took the initiative to attack. But they struggled to penetrate the Betis solid defense despite the superior possession of the ball.
Girona's possession ball advantages reached 75%. This shows the ball is mostly at the feet of the visitors. However, they have not been able to break into the opponent's goal.
The patience of Girona's players finally paid off after being awarded a penalty in the 39th minute. Penalti was awarded after Aitor Ruibal, who came in to replace Hector Bellerin, brought down Savio in the restricted area.
The referee pointed to the spot. As a result, Artem Dovbyk's shot managed to outwit goalkeeper Rui Silva. The 1-0 score for Girona lasted until the first half was over.
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Entering the second half, Betis improved their appearance. They played more aggressively and tried to suppress Girona's defense.
However, the advantage of possession still belongs to Girona. However, the visitors no longer fully dominate because Betis also plays openly.
Betis didn't give up. Their effort equalized the score as well. The hosts had to wait until the end of normal time to break into Girona's goal. German Pezzella's Betis goal was produced in the 88th minute.
The score changed to 1-1. No more goals were created when the match entered injury time for five minutes so both teams had to settle for sharing points.