Left Behind First, Sevilla Beats Host Girona

JAKARTA - Sevilla fell behind before turning things around to win 2-1 over hosts Girona in the Spanish La Liga match at the Montilivi Stadium, Saturday, January 18, 2025 evening WIB.

Girona did not show a consistent performance when playing at home. The team that appeared surprising last season actually had difficulty maintaining consistency. Especially after Girona was left behind by two mainstay players, Savinho who moved to Manchester City and striker Artem Dovbyk who chose to play with AS Roma.

In the last five games at home in various competitions, they lost 3-0 at home to Real Madrid in La Liga competition. Next, Girona lost 1-0 against Liverpool in the Champions League.

The bad trend was repeated when Girona hosted Sevilla. Even the hosts actually conceded a goal when the game had only been running for three minutes if Isaac Romero's penalty didn't fail.

Girona did take the lead first. However, this Michel Sanchez team could not maintain their lead and eventually lost points at home.

These results made Girona fail to improve her position. Now, they are stuck in the eightth anniversary with 28. Similar to Real Sociedad, but Girona lost the goal difference.

Meanwhile, Sevilla, who last season almost relegated, immediately rose to rank. They are ranked ninth with 26. Or they are two points adrift with Girona.

In that match, Sevilla already made the host supporters palpitate. Because midfielder Oriol Romeu made a mistake by dropping Romero in the penalty area when the game had only been running for three minutes

The referee had time to review the incident via VAR. As a result, Romeu did commit a violation so the referee pointed to the spot. However, Romeu, who took the execution himself, failed to complete the task. The goalkeeper Paulo Gazhaniga thwarted his shot.

Sevilla continued to play pressing. They got another chance through Ruben Vargas. However, Gazvaniga again showed his best performance by thwarting Vargas' shot.

Girona slowly began to rise and keep up with the role of Rojiblancos. Abel Ruiz's striker got a good chance to welcome feedback from Ivan Martin. But goalkeeper Orjan Nyland managed to block Ruiz's shot.

After many failures, Girona finally managed to overcome the deadlock when captain Arnau Martinez scored in the 36th minute. The goal started with Viktor Tsyhankov's action who received the ball from a short corner kick.

He then released the cross into the net which was greeted with Tsyhankov's header. The player of the Ukrainian national team successfully conquered goalkeeper Orjan Nyland. The 1-0 score for Girona lasted until the first half was over.

Entering the second half, Sevilla played more aggressively. They were able to suppress Girona's defense. As a result, in the 59th minute, midfielder Saul Niguez equalized the score after maximizing the rebound ball.

This started with a corner which was greeted by Niguez's header. However, goalkeeper Gazhaniga managed to thwart the header. However, the rebound ball was then struck by Niguez with a shot from close range.

The score changed to 1-1 and the game got fiercer. Girona had a good chance through Martinez. Unfortunately, his shot was still wide even though he was in a good position to score.

When the match was expected to draw, Sevilla managed to surprise the crowd after midfielder Dodi Lukebagio broke the deadlock in the 88th minute. Starting from Niguez's header which made the ball fall at Lukebabio's feet. He then outwitted defender Girona and beat Gazvaniga.

The score changed to 2-1 for Sevilla's advantage. No more goals. The score lasted until the match that brought Sevilla to victory in the away match.