Gaizka Garitano entered the Almeria hot seat during the International break, becoming the Rojiblancos’ third head coach of the season after leaving Eibar in the summer. His first assignment looked a tricky one, with Girona winning three of their four league matches at the Estadi Montilivi this term.
The new boss couldn’t have wished for a better start however, with Leo Baptistao firing the visitors in front from a tight angle inside two minutes on only his second start of the season.
Míchel’s side responded well on his 100th game in charge, with David Lopez steering fractionally wide following a corner before Yangel Herrera stung the palms of Fernando Martínez.
Just as the pressure was beginning to tell, Almeria sprung forward with a deadly counterattack, stunning the hosts as Baptistao tapped home a rebound for his second after Paulo Gazzaniga could only parry Adrian Embarba’s left-footed effort.
Down but not out, Girona produced the most remarkable of comebacks to overturn their two-goal deficit, netting three times in six frantic minutes to go in at the break ahead.
Baptistao went from hero to villain for the Rojiblancos, with a weak piece of play allowing Aleix Garcia to feed Ivan Martin, who made no mistake in rolling home. Baptistao’s rollercoaster first half soon saw his goalscoring exploits matched by Artem Dovbyk, who netted a first-half brace with a pair of clinical left-footed finishes to cap off a breathless opening period.
Without a clean sheet all season, the scale of Garitano’s task was laid bare on a chastening afternoon as his side’s defensive woes continued. After play had calmed in the early exchanges of the second half, the visitors fell two behind when Savio cut in from the right and fired past Martínez.
Garitano can now see the task at hand after asking for time from their supporters earlier in the week. His side did consolidate during a less eventful second half, until loanee youngster Savio put the game to bed cutting in off the right hand side, beating Martinez who really should have done better.
A clinical Christian Stuani finish rounded off the scoring for the free-scoring hosts, who kept up their early season form that has them mixing it with the giants of Spanish football.
That’s something Almeria can only dream of, as another defeat left them without a win from their opening 10 league matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Artem Dovbyk (Girona)
