Girona claim historic win over Barcelona to return to La Liga summit
La Liga
FC Barcelona 2-4 Girona
Barcelona were left shocked in their own backyard as they were defeated 4-2 by the table-topping Girona in a game where they looked devoid of ideas and inspiration, leaving them fourth in the La Liga standings.
It was a special night for Girona and their fans as they claimed their first ever away victory over Barcelona.
Artem Dovbyk silenced the Nou Camp as he opened the scoring in the 12th minute, firing low past Inaki Pena to give Girona the lead via the post following a quick break and some calamitous Andreas Christensen defending.
Located just 64 miles away from the Catalonian capital, Girona grabbing the lead against Barcelona must have felt surreal for their fans, although it didn’t last long as Robert Lewandowski levelled the affairs seven minutes later in the 19th minute, with a close range header from a corner delivered by Raphinha.
Barcelona did go on to look the most dangerous following the equalizer, but soccer rarely follows the script as the away side went back in front as half-time appeared on the horizon. Miguel Gutierrez became the latest hero in the story by wrong footing Jules Kounde and scoring at the near post with a powerful shot.
Barcelona’s second-half huffing and puffing yielded few valuable chances and after 65 minutes Xavi decided to fresh things up via the bench, but it was to no avail as the away side killed the game off in the 81st minute.
Valery Fernandez, who only came on in the 78th minute, bullied Kounde off the ball to earn a one-versus-one against Pena, who he calmly slotted past to seal the win.
It got even better, despite a late Ilkay Gundogan consolation for the hosts, as Cristhian Stuani added a fourth in the 95th minute for his seven of the season.
Girona move to the summit once again, leap-frogging Real Madrid to lead by two points. After 16 games Girona are on 41 points. Barcelona, meanwhile, slipped down to fourth behind Atletico Madrid, both with 34 points.
