Sports Desk, Feb 27 (EFE).- LaLiga’s early pacesetters Girona ended their three-match winless streak on Monday and regained second position on the table with a 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano at home.
Viktor Tsygankov broke the deadlock in the second half, and Savio Moreira added twice in extra time to complete the win against Rayo, who played the last few minutes with 10 men after a red card for Pep Chavarria.
Light to moderate rain at Montilivi, Girona’s home venue, slowed down the game from the opening whistle, making it difficult for the Catalan side to impose their authority firmly.
Girona dominated the play with over 60 percent possession but could not find depth on the wings or midfield leaving the goal hard to come by.
Eric Garcia and Yangel Herrera came close to scoring in the first half but were eventually denied, while Artem Dovbyk also missed inexplicably to leave some 9,000 Girona fans, who braved the rain, frustrated.
Viktor Tsygankov finally scored a goal in the 52nd minute, following a pass from David Lopez, breaking Rayo’s resilience.
The visitors were dwarfed further by Chavarria’s successive yellow cards, which forced him to leave the field with 15 minutes of play still left.
Brazilian Savio took full advantage to score a brace in the stoppage time to compound Rayo’s woes and take Girona past Barcelona in the table with 59 points from 26 matches, just behind Real Madrid’s 65. EFE
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