Girona vs Barcelona highlights as Pedri goal earns 1-0 win for La Liga leaders
Barcelona escaped another close call with a narrow 1-0 victory at Girona to extend their lead atop the La Liga table to six points ahead of Real Madrid’s match on Sunday.
A Pedri goal in the second half is all that Barcelona needed, although it took some hectic defending in the final 15 minutes to see out the result as Girona threw attackers forward in search of an equalizer.
A Ronald Araujo header clearance near the Barcelona goal line, two big saves by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and a howler of a miss by Girona’s Ivan Martin allowed Barcelona to come away with all three points in the end.
It was the third straight 1-0 victory for Barcelona without star forward Robert Lewandowski who sat out to serve the third match of a three-game suspension. The Blaugrana were also without suspended forward Ferran Torres, with Ansu Fati deputising as the central striker.
An Ousmane Demebele first-half injury made for an even more troublesome outlook for Barcelona on a cold night in Girona. But his replacement, Pedri, was at the far post to finish a patented Barcelona passing play to give his team the lead they would not relinquish.
A critical three-games-in-eight-days stretch in La Liga play continues for Barcelona with a trip to face Real Betis on Wednesday before coming home to take on Sevilla on Sunday. They’ll have Lewandowski back for both matches.
Girona vs Barcelona final score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Girona | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Barcelona | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Goals:
BAR — Pedri (Jordi Alba) — 61st min.
Lineups:
Girona (4-5-1, left to right): 13-Gazzaniga (GK) — 4-Arnau, 15-Juanpe (33-Roca, 81′), 2-Bernardo, 3-Miguel — 20-Yan Couto (12-Villa, 70′), 14-Aleix Garcia, 18-Romeu, 21-Herrera (11-Valery, 60′), 17-Riquelme (23-Martin, 81′) — 9-Castellanos (7-Stuani, 70′)
Barcelona (4-3-3, left to right): 1-Ter Stegen (GK) — 23-Kounde, 4-Araujo, 24-Eric, 17-Alonso (18-Alba, 46′) — 30-Gavi, 5-Busquets, 21-De Jong — 22-Raphinha (19-Kessie, 88′), 10-Fati (28-Balde, 81′), 7-Dembele (8-Pedri, 26′)
