Girona stun champions Barcelona to take Liga lead
Michel's side beat their Catalan rivals for the first time ever in the top flight in a pulsating battle to rise two points above Real Madrid, second, after their 1-1 draw at Real Betis on Saturday. Champions Barcelona are fourth after Atletico Madrid, third, beat Almeria earlier on, and Xavi's side trail Girona by seven points. Artem Dovbyk sent Girona ahead and after Robert Lewandowski pulled Barcelona level, Miguel Gutierrez slammed home again for the visitors.
Valery Fernandez extended Girona's lead with 10 minutes remaining, before Ilkay Gundogan netted to set up a frantic finale. Veteran striker Cristhian Stuani struck from close range in stoppage time to wrap up a stunning victory which reaffirms the minnows' title dream. Girona, part-owned by the City Football Group, were without injured key midfielder Yangel Herrera, whom they signed from Manchester City, but did not let it set them back.
In La Liga for only the fourth season in their history, they played without any fear of their more illustrious neighbours and took the lead early on as the game see-sawed deliciously from end to end. The visitors split the 27-time champions open with a lethal counter-attack, with Ukrainian winger Viktor Tsygankov feeding his compatriot Dovbyk to slam home in the 12th minute.
Unperturbed, Barcelona levelled quickly through Lewandowski, with the 35-year-old heading home Raphinha's corner to end a run of three matches without a goal. Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena tipped away Gutierrez's shot across goal, while Paulo Gazzaniga denied Joao Cancelo at the other end from close range.
The gloves were off, the mask too - Barca defender Ronald Araujo, who suffered a facial fracture in their win over Atletico Madrid last weekend tossed his p
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