Stuani strikes again as Girona's 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad pulls them out of the relegation zone
Girona walked off Montilivi with a 1-1 draw that mattered far more than the scoreline. Cristhian Stuani's 66th-minute equaliser cancelled Jon Martín's first-half header and dragged Míchel's side one point clear of the relegation zone, three days after the 39-year-old captain had already saved them at Rayo Vallecano.
Real Sociedad arrived in Catalonia with their league season effectively over. The Copa del Rey win earlier in the year had already booked their Europa League spot, and Pellegrino Matarazzo's side have been rotating and experimenting through the run-in. They still led on the half-hour mark, but the draw stretches a winless Sociedad run to a sixth LaLiga match without a victory.
Jon Martín heads Sociedad ahead at Montilivi
The visitors had the better of the opening period and got the breakthrough in the 28th minute. Sergio Gómez whipped in a delivery and Jon Martín outjumped three Girona defenders to plant a header back across goal. Montilivi went quiet, and for the rest of the first half Sociedad looked the side more in control of the tempo, knocking it around between the lines and probing for a second.
Míchel saw enough at the interval to make changes. Stuani came on for the second period and, with a side hovering above the drop, the message was about as direct as a half-time switch can be: get on the end of anything that arrived in the box.
Stuani strikes again as the captain pulls Girona level
The equaliser arrived just past the hour. A driven low cross from Martínez fizzed across the six-yard area, and Stuani met it first time with his right foot to send Montilivi into a roar that had been missing for an hour. It was a finish of the kind only a striker who has spent a decade in this league produces: weight transferred, no fuss, ball gone before the centre-back can read it.
It is the second time in three days that Stuani has rescued his club. On Monday at Vallecas he came off the bench in the 82nd minute and headed in a 90th-minute equaliser to deny Rayo. Two appearances, two goals, two points. For a captain who has played fewer than 20 league matches all season and started one, the late-career run could not be better timed.
Echeverri so close to a winner as Sociedad's run drags on
Girona almost had all three points in the closing stages. Claudio Echeverri, on as a late change, sent a shot flashing inches wide of the far post after a sweeping move. The roar that followed told its own story about how much a winner here would have meant. As it was, Míchel will take the point and the table-jump.
The draw nudges Girona out of the bottom three, three points adrift of 11th-placed Valencia. They are not safe yet, but with two matchdays left and Stuani in this kind of form, they have given themselves a runway. For Sociedad, who came in eighth on 45 points, the focus already looks like next season. Matarazzo's side, who beat Atlético on penalties to lift the Copa del Rey last month, have rotated heavily through the run-in and have now stretched their winless league run to six matches.
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