Penalized | OneFootball

Rayo 2-1 Girona

Victory slipped away again in the final stretch. Míchel Sánchez's men, despite not being comfortable and having less fluency in the game than on other days, managed to go ahead and keep the lead until the last minutes, but as last week against Sevilla, the thrust of the locals punished the team too much. Rayo Vallecano insisted and generated danger, but Míchel's team was able to resist and, with the score against them, they still had two clear chances to restore the tie.

Danjuma opened the scoring a few minutes after the start, but the goal was disallowed for a very tight offside. The winger had received the ball inside the box, scrambled in and then coolly struck the ball inside the long post. The home side also put Gazzaniga under pressure, especially with shots from outside the box, and the negative note of the first half came with injuries to Blind and Gazzaniga himself, prompting Pau Lopez to make his league debut. The goalkeeper from Girona had already played a Copa del Rey match with the red and white shirt.

Bryan Gil leads the way, but Nteka denies the win

At the restart, a centred pass from Iván Martín allowed Bryan Gil to head in alone at the far post and open the scoring. The winger did the most difficult thing, opening the scoring in a competitive match and against a demanding opponent that is strong at home, and Míchel's team defended the advantage against the attempts of the Madrid players. Pau was stretched more than once to deflect long-range shots, being one of Isi the most dangerous, and Bryan also tried again from distance with a shot close to the post. In the final stretch, in a lateral cross and after a few shots inside the area, the locals found a reward through Nteka, who took advantage of the momentum to make the second just after in a similar action.

Before the end, Stuani had a clear opportunity inside the box that Batalla saved, and the Argentine goalkeeper intervened again to keep out a double header from David Lopez that could have meant the equalizer. The team now returns to Montilivi with the intention of getting stronger with the fans: Arsenal will visit the stadium on Wednesday in the last Champions League match, and Las Palmas on Monday.