Sluggish Girona slip to 1–0 home defeat by Real Sociedad
Oct 19 — Real Sociedad edged past Girona with a 1–0 victory on Saturday, propelled by a first-half goal from captain Mikel Oyarzabal. The result leaves Girona in a precarious 13th position in the La Liga standings, having failed to build on their recent success against Athletic Bilbao.
Oyarzabal’s decisive goal came just before halftime, when he rose unmarked to head in Ander Barrenetxea’s cross from the left, marking his first goal of the season. “It was a hard-fought game, in which both teams had chances, but I think we were perhaps a little better, especially on the ball,” Oyarzabal told LaLiga TV. “These are three important points that we needed. Those of us who play up front live off goals; I was struggling, and today it was my turn. I hope that many more will come.”
With this win, Real Sociedad climbed to 11th place in the league with a total of 12 points from 10 matches. Meanwhile, Girona has struggled to maintain momentum this season, accumulating only 12 points from the same number of games.
The home side had opportunities to equalize, notably through Arnaut Danjuma, but were thwarted by Real Sociedad’s goalkeeper Alex Remiro. Girona’s attack was hampered by injuries to key players Bryan Gil and Yaser Asprilla.
Girona’s captain, Arnau Martinez, reflected on the match, stating, “It was an even game. The first half was ours. They had two chances and scored a goal. We had more chances, but we couldn’t score. Now we have to think about Tuesday,” as the team prepares to host Slovan Bratislava in their upcoming Champions League fixture.
