It wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t a classic, but for a Girona side rooted to the foot of the table, this hard-fought 0-0 draw with high-flying Espanyol will have felt like a step in the right direction. The first goalless stalemate of the entire LaLiga season won’t live long in the memory, but for the home fans at Montilivi, it at least provided a platform to build on after a torrid start.
Espanyol, enjoying their best beginning to a campaign in over a decade, initially looked the more likely to break the deadlock. They seemed keen to extend their impressive run and put their hosts under early pressure, with Roberto Fernandez steering a header wide when he might have done better.
Girona, still searching for their first home point after three defeats on the spin, were struggling to find any fluency. But they almost stole the lead against the run of play, a fizzing volley from Ivan Martin from distance forcing Marko Dmitrovic into an acrobatic, sprawling save.
The game quickly opened up into a proper, end-to-end affair. Paulo Gazzaniga in the Girona goal was soon called into action himself, first gathering a bouncing effort from Clemens Riedel before making a superb stop to claw away Tyrhys Dolan’s first-time effort. As the half wore on, you felt a goal was coming, but Espanyol’s Pere Milla couldn’t take either of the two chances that fell his way before the break.
The home side emerged with a bit more purpose after the interval. Dmitrovic was kept busy, saving tamely from Azzedine Ounahi before making a more important block at the feet of Vladyslav Vanat, who was trying to force the ball home after Dolan had done brilliantly to track back and dispossess Portu.
Carlos Romero served a reminder that Espanyol were still a real threat, seeing one whipped effort deflected just wide before hooking another attempt past the post from distance. But as the clock ticked down, Girona’s attacking impetus, or lack thereof, became apparent. It’s now three games out of six where Míchel’s men have failed to find the net, and that profligacy was clear to see as they offered little sustained threat late on.
A flurry of substitutions from both benches failed to spark a winner. In the end, a share of the spoils was probably a fair result. For Espanyol, it’s a second straight draw, a minor blip in an otherwise fine start. For Girona, however, the primary positive will be a first clean sheet of the season. It’s a foundation, but the wait for that elusive first win goes on.