For matchday 9 of LaLiga, Barcelona hosted Girona at Montjuic. The match ended with an agonising comeback for the home side. Pedri had opened the scoring and it was Witsel who equalised momentarily and Ronald Araujo gave his team the three points almost at the last minute.
A depleted Barcelona that ran at half throttle
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Despite the considerable number of casualties in Hansi Flick’s squad, Barcelona set out to take the game to their opponents and show authority. It was in the 13th minute when Lamine Yamal gave the ball to Pedri who, entered the area and piled up rivals to then take a low shot that slipped into the goal defended by Gazzaniga.
Girona took the blow well and did not give up. They went out to look for the equaliser and when the clock struck 20 minutes, a header inside the area from Arnau Martinez found an inspired Axel Witsel, who connected with a bicycle kick to beat Szczesny and level the score
After that, the match became an end-to-end affair and both teams had clear goal-scoring opportunities that they failed to take advantage of, ending the first 45 minutes with two goals, one for each team
Barcelona and Girona in a chess match
For the second half, both coaches moved their pieces to be able to put the score in their favor, however, the duel was very close. It was not until the end of the match, in the 90+3rd minute, when the much-criticized Araujo appeared and, playing as a forward, scored the winning goal.
At the end of the match, Hansi Flick saw the second yellow card, was sent off and will miss the derby against Xabi Alonso’s side in the next match.
On the other hand, Girona regrets this result and is stuck in the relegation zone, occupying the 19th place in the standings.
With this victory, Barcelona momentarily saves the top spot pending the result of Real Madrid against Getafe
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