Spanish league leader Girona held to scoreless draw at last-place Almeria

Sun, Jan 14, 2024
Soccer News (AP)

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 the rival played in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Girona had the chance to move three points clear with a victory at minnow 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 will face Barcelona in the Super Cup final in Riyadh later on Sunday. Its league match at Getafe, which had been scheduled for this weekend, will be played in a few weeks.

Girona played a man down from the 80th minute after midfielder Aleix Garcia was sent off with a straight red card for a foul to stop a breakaway.

Other news

Osimhen's Nigeria held 1-1 by Equatorial Guinea in frustrating start to Africa Cup

Villa held to 0-0 draw at Everton and misses chance to go level with Premier League leader Liverpool

Minamino double helps Japan to comeback 4-2 win against Vietnam in Asian Cup

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 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 Michel Sanchez 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," Michel 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, which are now eight points behind in the league standings. Barcelona and Atletico also didn't play in the league this weekend because of the Super Cup.

It the other match of the day, Cadiz will try to end a 17-match winless streak across all competitions when it hosts midtable Valencia.

Cadiz has five draws in its last six league matches. Its most recent league win was against Villarreal in September. Its 15-match winless streak is its longest ever in the competition.

Valencia will try to win three straight league matches for the first time since 2021.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer