The Catalan team, the great surprise of Spanish and now European football, celebrated its ninth victory and third consecutive ‘in extremis’ and after 90 minutes in which it controlled possession in an undisputed way, but without causing danger.

Rafa Benítez’s team, now in an even more delicate situation, said goodbye to Montilivi with sadness because linked the seventh game without winning and will continue to decline for another week and with anger because In the 84th minute the referee annulled a goal by Luca de la Torre due to a very rigorous foul by Jorgen Strand Larsen on Paulo Gazzaniga that the entire visiting bench protested a lot.

Girona was master of the game from the beginning, with possession that exceeded 80% and was 70% at half-time and with three corner kicks in the first ten minutes. The locals matured their plays by looking for holes in the rival defense, well planted, while the visitors trusted their options in counterattacks because They struggled to connect passes and the ball didn’t last at all.

The local dominance was unappealable, as clear as Girona’s difficulties in breaking lines and combining with speed in the face of tight marking on Aleix García.

In fact, Girona failed to shoot on goal in the entire first half and it only worried Vicente Guaita, starting for the first time with Celta replacing the suspended Iván Villar, with a cross from Sávio Moreira that Artem Dovbyk, isolated, failed to finish on the edge of the small area.

Míchel has already warmed up Portu and Viktor Tsygankov, a novelty in the call after overcoming an injury, in the 30th minute of the first half, very hampered by interruptions. Before half an hour the game was stopped to attend to a fan from the Galician stands, Renato Tapia and Sávio.

Despite local control, The most dangerous approaches of the first half were for Celta. In the 41st minute, Paulo Gazzaniga rejected a strong shot from Jonathan Bamba after a quick visitor transition. Before, Gazzaniga had saved Tapia’s long shot without problems. After a corner in favor of Girona, a three-on-three in the Catalan field became dangerous. Sávio cleared the ball in the small area to avoid the 0-1, providential.

Furthermore, Girona, frustrated with the match and irritated with the referee, lost David López due to injuryreplaced by Juanpe Ramírez in the second minute of the seven added minutes and after the umpteenth interruption.

Míchel’s players, after the break, returned to the pitch with one more march and the first shot on goal came in the first minute: a header from Dovbyk from a corner kick served by Aleix García. Every time Celta tried to play static they lost the ball in an easy pass.

Girona, cold, more imprecise than other nights, had a hard time making plays with the usual ease, but they grew as the minutes passed. At the hour mark, Sávio, very active, put a new cross into the area that Iván Martín missed by inches.

In the 65th minute Sávio assisted Yan Couto in a counterattack, but his shot, straightforward, with everything in its favor, went over.

Immediately afterwards Míchel redoubled the team’s offensive commitment with the entry of Portu and Cristhian Stuani, while Guaita began to gain time with goal kicks. In the 72nd minute Miguel Gutiérrez almost made it 1-0 with a shot from the edge of the area.

He ended up arriving in ’91, with a hard shot by Herrera from the front, after a pass from Aleix Garcíawhich became his fourth goal of the season after bouncing off Guaita’s left post and unleashing madness in Montilivi, while Celta continued to ask the referee for explanations for his disallowed goal.