Girona net dramatic late goal to beat Atleti in seven-goal thriller despite Morata heroics
The Blanquivermells made a rampant start in Catalonia, and Artem Dovbyk came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock inside the opening minute when he fired wide from close range after Savinho’s blistering run and cross down the right flank.
The hosts only had to wait one more minute to open the scoring though, after Pablo Torre picked out Valery Fernandez, who cut inside from the left and caressed a beautiful finish past a motionless Jan Oblak.
A rattled Atleti side searched for a rapid response, and Morata provided just that after brilliantly latching onto Antoine Griezmann’s flick-on and firing a clinical strike past Paulo Gazzaniga. But Michel Sanchez’s side turned the contest back in their favour, in a goal which neither Griezmann nor Koke will want to see again.
Martin dispossessed the Atleti captain from Griezmann’s pass and saw his subsequent shot pushed away by Oblak towards Savinho, who rifled home the loose ball. It would get even better for the hosts when Daley Blind reacted quickest at the far post to prod in Dovbyk’s flick-on from a brilliantly well-worked corner. However, the visitors had the last word before the break with Morata showing sublime footwork to prod home a second.
The Spaniard then thought he had completed a remarkable first-half hat-trick seconds later, but was denied by the assistant’s flag in an incredible opening 45 minutes.
Diego Simeone’s men had the bit between their teeth after the restart, piling the pressure on the hosts in a bid to restore parity. Gazzaniga made a slew of early saves to thwart Morata, Griezmann and Marcos Llorente, but an inevitable equaliser came in the 54th minute.
After missing a far easier chance moments earlier, the former Chelsea frontman was superbly picked out by Rodrigo De Paul and dinked a delightful finish over Gazzaniga.
The hosts barely had a sniff of a chance after the break, before Oblak was thrust into action to make a fine one-handed save to keep out Dovbyk’s low, driven effort. Just when the visitors thought they had claimed a share of the spoils, Martín’s superb solo effort in stoppage sealed a famous win.
This result extends Girona’s unbeaten league run to 11 games, as the Catalans kept pace with table-topping Real Madrid following their 1-0 win over Real Mallorca.
Meanwhile, the Colchoneros have plenty of work to do themselves in the title race, and sit third - 10 points adrift of Los Blancos after succumbing to a fourth consecutive league defeat on the road for the first time in Simeone’s tenure.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Paulo Gazzaniga (Girona)
