La Liga: Girona stun Barcelona
Lamine Yamal missed a penalty as Barcelona lost at Girona 2-1 on Monday and passed up a chance to overtake Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
The defeat was the second in less than a week for Barca and left it second in the table, two points behind Madrid. A win would have taken it above its archrival but, instead, a crisis brewed for coach Hansi Flick, whose side lost to Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the Copa del Rey last week.
The second loss came even though Barcelona took the lead early in the second half. Yamal hit the post with his spot kick on the stroke of halftime but 14 minutes into the second period Pau Cubarsi met Jules Kounde’s cross from the right and placed his header perfectly into the top corner.
The goal was Barcelona’s 100th in all competitions this season and made it the second club in Europe’s big five domestic leagues to
hit the century after Bayern Munich. However, Girona roared back into the game just three minutes later. Barcelona’s Joan Garcia was already the busier of the two goalkeepers but he could not stop Thomas Lemar side-footing home from close range after nice work from Vladyslav Vanat on the left wing.Both sides pushed for a decisive second and it was Girona who executed with three minutes remaining, substitute Fran Beltran scoring with a low shot from just inside the box.
Girona’s Joel Roca was sent off in the dying seconds but there were no more goals. The victory ended a three-game winless streak for Girona and lifted it three places into 12th, equal on points with Getafe. Only seven points separate the 11 clubs from eighth to 18th in La Liga.
