Perhaps in order to get up to the First Division once and for all by way of the playoff, Girona needed to improve their performance at Montilivi in ??decisive matches such as the one this Saturday against Tenerife in which they were unable to score despite dominating a match that finally finished goalless.
Two years ago they had everything in their favor to win the final against Elche, playing the second leg at home after drawing away, and they lost. The same thing happened to him last season against Rayo Vallecano, since after winning in Vallecas, he once again let promotion slip away in front of his fans. And three quarters of the same thing happened just a week ago in the semifinals against Eibar in which Míchel’s men managed to overcome the tie by coming back in Ipurua when they had also lost in the first game at home.
With a stadium delivered and full to the top, Girona came out with only two changes compared to the last game, with the entry of Stuani for Nahuel Bustos, since against Eibar the Uruguayan striker came out as a shock from the bench, and Aleix Garcia in the place of the injured Borja García.
The locals started the match with absolute control of the game, locking up Tenerife and constantly looking for the head of their goal man. In any case, the first somewhat dangerous shot was the work of a central defender, Juanpe, after a good cross from Álex Baena.
As the minutes went by and after overcoming the momentum from Girona, the Canarian team advanced lines and began to feel a little more comfortable on the pitch, although Girona continued to control the match.
As a result of this, Baena himself had the clearest chance of the first half, seven minutes before the break, after a ball stolen by Aleix Garcia in the midfield, but his shot was saved by Juan Soriano.
After the break, the Girona side took to the pitch aware of the need to materialize the superiority shown so far with goals, but Míchel’s men continued without finding the key to generate more danger in attack.
Only a cross from the left was about to become an own goal by José León if it had not been, again, for the goalkeeper Soriano who practically took it from the goal.
In a counterattack, Mollejo hesitated so much at the time of the definition that it was finally done at night and wasted a clear opportunity to score for Tenerife.
And it was then that Míchel decided to shake up the team and give entry to Samu Saiz, Jairo and Nahuel Bustos who entered the place of Baena, Juanpe and Stuani, who yesterday went more unnoticed than usual.
But not like that. Aleix Garcia, just before the 90th minute, could have given the Girona team an advantage for the second leg thanks to a direct free kick that Soriano stopped in two halves.
The last minutes passed with Tenerife completely ceding dominance to Girona, clearly taking the tie for granted and moving the tie next Sunday to a Heliodoro Rodríguez López where the Catalan players are obliged to win if they want to play next season in First Division.
Any draw would give promotion to the Canarian team after finishing the regular phase in a better position than the Girona team.
0 – Girona FC: Juan Carlos; Arnau, Santi Bueno, Bernardo, Juanpe (Jairo, min. 79), Valery (Ureña, min. 90 7); Iván Martín, Pol Lozano, Aleix Garcia (Artero, min. 90 7); Álex Baena (Samu Sáiz, min. 79); and Stuani (Nahuel Bustos, min. 80).
0 – CD Tenerife: Juan Soriano; Moore, Sergio Gonzalez, Leon, Mellot; Mollejo (Pomares, min. 80), Alexandre (Carlos Ruiz, min. 80), Aitor Sanz, Bermejo (Andrés, min. 80); Enric Gallego and Mario González (Elady, min. 61).
Referee: Hernández Maeso (Extremadura committee). He admonished the locals Pol Lozano (min. 25) and Álex Baena (min. 75) and the visitors Elady (min. 69) and Andrés (min. 90 1).
Incidents: First leg of the final of the promotion promotion to LaLiga Santander, played at the Estadi Municipal de Montilivi before 11,303 fans.
