~ Cristian Manzanera scores a brace for the LaLiga side~
Kochi, 27th July 2018: LaLiga side Girona FC kick started their campaign with a landslide 6-0 victory over A-League club Melbourne City FC in the second match of the Toyota Yaris LaLiga World at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi here on Friday.
The Spanish side made their intentions clear from the word go as they went for maximum possession on the ball. The pair of Juan Lopez and Bernardo Zuniga made it tough for Melbourne City FC forwards cancelling out all threats posed by the A-League side forwards.
This led to a poor pass intercepted by Girona as Christian Portugues found some space in the right to deftly put it into the bottom right corner in 11th minute helping his club score their first goal of the match. Six minutes later, Portugues’ deft touch beat the experienced Eugene Galekovic again as Girona doubled their lead.
Girona FC’s pressing play put pressure on Melbourne club as the 24th minute saw striker Antony Lozano tap in a missed cross by goalkeeper to put Girona in a comfortable 3-0 lead. Melbourne City FC had no answers to the constant forays of Girona in the 18 yard box.
The first real chance for Melbourne came in the 43rd minute of the match as forward Bruno Fornaroli was one on one with the Girona goalkeeper but failed to convert the goal scoring opportunity as he hit the ball wide off the goal. The first half ended with a scoreline of 3-0 to the Spanish outfit.
The second half was no different, as Girona continued with their strategy of high pressing. Melbourne City FC looked a little rusty on the ball as their strategy of high balls was comfortably kept at bay by the Girona defenders.
It was business as usual again as Girona scored their fourth goal in the 51st minute through a set piece, Aleix Serrano curled in the perfect ball as Juan Pedro Lopez placed in a thumping header, typical of a centre-back. The one aspect of Girona's game that was truly spectacular was their ability to switch wings.
Girona FC winger Yhoan Many who was magical in the flanks through the evening, finally scored a goal in the 69th minute of the match. His run collided with the goalkeeper but he managed to put the ball past the Galekovic as the scoreboard read 5-0. The lightning pace of Yhoan kept posing a constant threat to Australian side as he hit the post on the 74th minute, making it five shots on target for him in the match.
To add to Melbourne City FC’s woes forward Pedro Porro he headed the sixth goal of the match for Girona in added time as the final scoreline read 6-0 in favour of the Spanish outfit.
Eusebio Sacritsan, manager Girona Fc who was ecstatic after the team victory said “I think Aleix played brilliantly today, he is a core member of the squad and he will definitely feature a lot more in the upcoming season. We are really happy to play in this tournament and the support for our game today was fantastic to see, We shall have added pressure from the crowd tomorrow as we play against the home crowd. I don’t think we will make many changes for tomorrow, we want to give as much opportunity to all our players and form the right combination to our squad before the season starts.”
“Our players had injuries, the Centre backs had niggles and four inexperienced players had to start the game. We gave a few easy goals and made a lot of mistakes, but its pre-season and we know what areas we have to work on” signed off Warren Joyce, the Melbourne City FC Coach before taking his flight back to Australia .
