Girona Paste Tight Madrid After Conquering Atletico Madrid Through Last Minute Goal

Girona's players celebrated the game against Atletico Madrid. (X/@GironaFC)

JAKARTA - Girona won an important victory after defeating Atletico Madrid 4-3 in a Spanish La Liga duel. The victory in the match which was held at the Municipal de Montilivi Stadium, Thursday, January 4 in the morning, made Girona stick tight to Real Madrid. Girona's tight match, which actually had a 3-1 lead. However, Atletico was able to catch up and change the score to 3-3.

As the match entered injury time, midfielder Ivan Martin scored the goal that decisive Girona's victory.

In that match, Atletico striker Alvaro Morata made a hat trick. Even Morata had added but was disallowed so Atletico had to lose their first in the new year.

The result made Atletico fail to stay away from Barcelona. Both teams have 38 points.

However, Atletico is still ahead of the goal difference so they can stay in third place. Barca has the opportunity to replace Atletico if they beat Las Palmas, Friday, January 5 in the morning WIB.

Meanwhile, Girona is tight with Real Madrid, who previously won 1-0 over Mallorca. Both Girona and Madrid pocketed 48 points.

However, Girona still lost the goal difference so she was in second place. Madrid led the standings when they entered the new year.

Morata himself admitted that he was disappointed because three goals he had not been able to bring Atletico to the point. But he hopes Los Colchoneros can rise because they will play a difficult match in the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana.

"We lost points and lost. Now, we should focus on the next game," said Morata.

"This is football. We finally had to lose. But we have to keep going with our heads held high. We rest first before competing in the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup (Supercopa de Espana). We don't have much time," he said.

Meanwhile, Martin, who is the winner, hopes that Girona will maintain her performance in order to qualify for next season's Champions League. He also admitted that he was lucky to score the decisive goal.

"I was lucky to score a goal. It didn't happen. We finished the job amazingly and got good results since we played in second division," said Martin.

"Now, European competition is in sight. We have to keep fighting it," he said again.

In that match, Girona took the lead quickly through Valery Fernandez. The game has only been running for two minutes, the hosts have led 1-0. But that advantage didn't last long. Morata managed to equalize the score in the 14th minute.

Girona then completely pressed the Atletico defense. As a result, Savio brought Girona back ahead in the 26th minute. He broke into the opponent's goal after snatching the ball from Koke.

Furthermore, defender Daley Blind confirmed Girona's lead to 3-1 in 39 minutes. Only the referee had time to review the goal through VAR. As a result, there were no violations and the former Manchester United player's goal was approved.

Atletico refused to give up. Morata again showed her sharpness by breaking into Girona's goal for the second time after doing a solo run in the 44th minute.

Morata actually equalized in first-half injury time. But the goal was disallowed due to offside. The 3-2 score for Girona lasted until the first half was over.

Entering the second half, Atletico took the initiative to attack. They did not give the hosts the opportunity to develop the game.

The result was not in vain. Morata scored a third goal while completing the hat-trick in the 54th minute. The score changed to the same strong 3-3.

Unfortunately, Atletico's efforts to gain points in the away match failed. Girona managed to win after Martin scored a goal to determine d injury time. The score was 4-3 for Girona. Not long after the match ended.