Spanish league leader Girona held to 0-0 draw at last-place Almeria
MADRID (AP) — Girona was held by last-place Almeria to a 0-0 draw in the Spanish league on Sunday, missing a chance to open a bigger gap over Real Madrid while its rival played in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Girona had the chance to move three points clear with a victory at Almeria — the only team yet to win in the league so far this season — but the draw left the Catalan club only one point ahead.
Madrid beat Barcelona 4-1 in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday to win its first trophy of the season, and has played one game less than Girona.
Girona played a man down from the 80th minute after midfielder Aleix García was sent off with a straight red card for a foul to stop a breakaway.
Almeria had most of the significant scoring chances throughout the match while Girona finished with only one attempt on target.
“We knew it wasn't going to be an easy match,” said goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, the best Girona player on Sunday. “Considering how the match went, it's not a bad point. We are still on the right track.”
It was only the second time this season Girona was held scoreless. The other was a 3-0 home loss against Madrid in September, which marked its only loss in all competitions this campaign. The team coached by Míchel Sánchez has the league’s best attack with 46 goals, six more than Madrid. It was trying to win for the seventh time in eight matches in all competitions to keep alive its surprise run for the league title.
“The good news is that we won a point and it gives us the lead,” Míchel said. “Almeria played better than we did.”
Girona, part owned by Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi ownership, recently won at defending champion Barcelona and against Atletico Madrid. Barcelona and Atletico also didn’t play in the league this weekend because of the Super Cup.
In the other match of the day, Cadiz's winless streak reached 18 matches across all competitions after a 4-1 loss to Valencia at home.
The last league win for Cadiz, sitting inside the relegation zone, was against Villarreal in September.
Some local fans called for the resignation of Cadiz coach Sergio González.
Hugo Duro, Diego López, Javier Guerra and Jesús Vázquez scored for Valencia, which moved to eighth place. It has won three straight league matches for the first time since 2021.
Valencia led 1-0 and 2-1 before scoring its last two goals in stoppage time.
CORREA REPORTEDLY ROBBED
Spanish media reported that four intruders entered the home of Atletico Madrid forward Angel Correa while he and his family were at the residence on Saturday.
Europa Press cited police officials saying that no one was hurt and no arrests were immediately made. It said authorities were investigating the robbery.
Correa was back after Atletico's match against Real Madrid in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. Atletico, which lost to Madrid 5-3 midweek, was not in action this weekend.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
