Girona put four past Osasuna to earn first LaLiga win of season
Although Girona fans may have been distracted at kick-off with the UEFA Champions League draw in progress, the players immediately seized control of the game and dominated the early exchanges.
Despite that dominance, it took 22 minutes for the first major chance to arrive. Bryan Gil was allowed to drift inside onto his favoured left before unleashing a powerful effort at goal, but Sergio Herrera somehow managed to tip the ball over the bar with his fingertips.
Gil wasn’t to be denied, however, as he struck his first goal for the club immediately after the half-hour cooling break. Viktor Tsyhankov’s deep cross appeared to be overhit, but at full stretch, Gil managed to surprise Herrera at his near post to make it 1-0.
Gil continued to torment Osasuna as he picked out Abel Ruiz with a pinpoint cross just before the interval, but the striker’s glancing header bounced narrowly wide of the goal.
The break didn’t break Girona’s momentum as Tsyhankov found a second shortly after the restart. Bojan Miovski’s cross wasn’t dealt with by the visiting defence and the ball fell kindly for the Ukrainian to drill it across goal for 2-0.
The hosts continued to pile on the pressure thereafter and Ruiz made up for his miss just before the break with an incredible volley with the outside of his foot that soared into the top corner past the despairing dive of Herrera.
A fourth goal eventually arrived in the final stages as debutant Donny van de Beek showed great composure to pick out Cristhian Stuani, who couldn’t miss from close range to complete a miserable evening for Osasuna.
The result leaves both teams tied on four points with three games played, but on this evidence, it’s Girona who look better equipped to challenge for the European places as Osasuna struggled to have much impact on the game.