When Eric García rose unmarked in the 30th minute at the Estadio Municipal de Montilivi to head home Viktor Tsygankov's cross, it was not merely the opening goal of Matchday 38. It was the prologue to a systematic dismantling. By the time referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz blew his final whistle on Friday, May 24, 2024, Girona had posted a staggering 7-0 victory over already-relegated Granada, etching the highest-scoring win in the club's history and bringing a cinematic flourish to an improbable LaLiga campaign.
Míchel’s 4-3-3 setup completely overwhelmed José Ramón Sandoval's 42-3-1 defensive block through sheer positional fluidity and overwhelming technical superiority. Girona dominated possession with 57% of the ball, but raw possession metrics understate the territorial siege. The hosts racked up 16 total shots against Granada's 10, while registering an astonishing 7 clear-cut chances to Granada's single major opportunity. Aleix García and Yangel Herrera dictated the tempo from deep, while Savinho and Tsygankov stretched Sandoval's defensive lines horizontally until the seams tore apart.
The Timeline of a Collapse
Granada managed to withstand the initial wave for twenty-nine minutes, relying on low blocks and desperate clearances. Then the floodgates opened:
- 30' - Eric García opens the scoring with a close-range header following a corner.
- 33' - Viktor Tsygankov doubles the lead with a sharp right-footed finish from the center of the box, assisted by Miguel Gutiérrez.
- 44' - Artem Dovbyk converts a penalty into the bottom right corner after Ricard Sánchez brings down Portu.
- 54' - Tsygankov nets his second, tapping in from close range after a precise delivery from Savinho.
- 61' - Granada's afternoon goes from bleak to catastrophic when Facundo Pellistri picks up his second yellow card, leaving the visitors with 10 men.
- 75' - Dovbyk fires home his second of the match from the center of the box, set up by a clever through ball from substitute Cristhian Stuani.
- 78' - Stuani gets in on the act, bundling in from very close range following a headed pass from Dovbyk.
- 90' - Dovbyk completes his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Sergio Ruiz fouls Savinho inside the area.
Individual Brilliance and Historical Milestones
The afternoon belonged unquestionably to Artem Dovbyk. By sealing his hat-trick with a 90th-minute penalty—his third conversion of the fixture—the Ukrainian striker pushed his league tally to 24 goals for the season. That haul moved him ahead of Villarreal's Alexander Sorloth in the race for the Pichichi trophy as LaLiga's top goalscorer, while also eclipsing Cristhian Stuani’s club record of 21 goals from the 2017-18 campaign.
Savinho similarly wrote his name across the tactical ledger. Operating with blistering pace down the flanks, the winger secured his 10th assist of the season by setting up Tsygankov’s second goal, before drawing the late penalty converted by Dovbyk. In a match where Granada's discipline unraveled—typified by 13 total fouls, yellow cards to Sergio Ruiz, Ricard Sánchez, and José Callejón, alongside Pellistri's dismissal—Girona's attacking orchestrators treated the Montilivi faithful to an exhibition of high-tempo combination play.
Girona cap an already brilliant season with a high-scoring victory in their final LaLiga game against 10-man Granada on Friday.
beIN SPORTS
Completing 626 passes to Granada's 268 with an 88% passing accuracy, Míchel's side demonstrated that their fairytale run was built on elite metronomic control rather than early-season luck. As the final whistle sounded on a 7-0 scoreline in front of 12,813 supporters, Girona did not just close a chapter; they redefined the ceiling of what a provincial club can achieve in modern Spanish football.
Sources
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