Girona 4-1 Espanyol: Miovski bags double as hosts ride on first-half blitz

Bojan Miovski scored twice as Girona thrashed Espanyol 4-1 in LaLiga at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi on Saturday.

Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci were also on the scoresheet as the home side raced to a 4-0 lead inside the first half hour, with Javi Puado scoring the visiting side’s only goal after the break.

After the match was halted because of a fan being taken ill in the crowd, Gil opened the scoring when he unleashed a stunning long-range strike into the bottom corner with four minutes on the clock.

Gil was behind the second goal for Michel’s side too, as he capitalised on a defensive error and crossed to Miovski, who made it 2-0 in the 16th minute before the pair combined again for a third five minutes later.

Donny van de Beek’s header from Yaser Asprilla’s corner was pushed in by Krejci for Girona’s fourth in the 27th minute.

Espanyol got a consolation goal 10 minutes into the second half when Puado hit a long-range strike that found the back of Paulo Gazzaniga’s net.

Girona, last season’s surprise package, climbed to fifth in LaLiga with 21 points, while Espanyol are 19th and in the relegation zone with 10 points.

La seva primera gran nit a Montilivi! pic.twitter.com/NC4p0kA5n3

— Girona FC (@GironaFC) November 23, 2024

Data Debrief: A dominant display by Girona

Girona enjoyed 75.6% of possession against Espanyol and generated an xG of 3.36 after attempting 12 shots, of which five were on target, in the 90 minutes.

On the other hand, the visitors only had a single shot on target for the entirety of the match and ended with an xG of 0.42.

Girona also attempted 772 passes in this game, their highest total in a single match in LaLiga this season, with 90.5% passing accuracy, as Espanyol were limited to a total of 236 passes.