Barcelona returned to the top of the Spanish football championship standings after a 2-1 home win over Girona in a match from the ninth round, BTA reported.
Ronald Araujo became the hero for the Catalan giants, scoring the winning goal in the third minute of stoppage time. Barcelona have 22 points in the lead, while second-placed Real Madrid have 21 points and a game in hand, with the big derby between the two teams in La Liga coming up on October 26. Girona is second to last, 19th in the standings with only 6 points.
The two teams exchanged one goal each in the first twenty minutes of the match, with the hosts taking the lead with a goal from Pedri in the 13th minute, and in the 20th minute Axel Witsel equalized for Girona. The Catalan midfielder Pedri made a wonderful breakthrough, which ended with a precise shot for 1:0, and Witsel received the ball from Arnau Martinez and scored a beautiful goal for 1:1.
Both teams had the opportunity to take the lead in the following minutes, with Paulo Gasaniga, the guest goalkeeper, stopping a shot by Frenkie de Jong in the 26th minute, and in the 30th minute Marcus Rashford hit the post for Barcelona. Lamine Yamal also had a chance to score in the 37th minute, but Girona's defense managed to cope, and in the 41st Witsel missed a chance to score a second goal, sending the ball to the left of the home team's goal.
In the 52nd minute, another goal for Barcelona followed after a shot by Fermin Lopez, and five minutes later he was close to a second goal for the Catalan giants, but Gasaniga intervened in time. Rashford could have brought the home team ahead twice - in the 65th and 66th minutes, but he missed, and his protests for a penalty in the 71st minute were not respected.
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick was sent off with a red card in the 90th minute, and three minutes later his players were celebrating after Uruguayan international Araujo scored the winning goal.