Real Betis have their first victory of 2019 after a hugely entertaining encounter with Girona, at the Benito Villamarin.
This was Quique Setien's 500th top flight match (374 appearances as a player, 126 games as a coach) and his side came from 2-1 down to win the in the 94th minute. They move onto 29 points, and up to seventh with this win.
Before the match Betis defender Sidnei's father passed away, and the Brazilian consequently didn't feature. He was, however, a protagonist on an emotional afternoon, with both Christian Tello and Sergio Canales dedicating their goals to him. Then at full time the entire Betis squad hugged Sidnei, as the home fans sang the Betis hymn bathed in sunshine.
Setien played 5-3-2 with Tello and Antonio Barragan as wing backs. In the heart of the defence Javi Garcia made his fourth start of the season. Francis was injured, William Carvalho was suspended and Joaquin was left on the bench with starts given to Tello and Loren Moron, who joined Antonio Sanabria in attack.
Betis's midfield of Antonio Guardado, Giovani Lo Celso and Sergi Canales is highly impressive, with Lo Celso and Canales - in particular - linking up superbly throughout this match.
For Girona, top scorer Cristhian Stuani was suspended so Seydou Doumbia started with Portu in attack. Alex Granell and Douglas Luiz dropped to the bench with youngsters Valery Fernandez and Aleix Garcia starting. Like Betis, Girona played a 5-3-2.
The home team began brightly and went ahead through Tello's direct free kick after 12 minutes.
Tello and Barragan gave Betis good width, their centre backs and goalkeeper are comfortable on the ball and in the midfield they look to pass calmly.
They were in control for the opening 20 minutes but then Girona started to keep possession better, before individual errors let the visitors back into the game. First Barragan's under hit pass enabled Doumbia to find Portu who assisted for Aleix Garcia to score into an empty net.
Then a minute before half time Pau Lopez spilled a simple ball to Portu, who crossed for Doumbia to head Girona into the lead.
At half time Setien and his assistant Eder Sarabia could be seen telling their players "Relax, we have plenty of time" and so it proved, just about.
Bartra had a goal ruled out for off side before Betis equalised with a sumptuous counter-attack nine minutes into the second half. Lo Celso's magnificent pass found Canales who made a fantastic surge forward before squaring to Loren. The striker took two touches to clinically arrow Betis level. He now had three goals in three appearances against Girona, and this goal ended an eight-match scoreless streak in La Liga.
At 2-2 both teams looked bright, and Girona had some half chances but Doumbia wasn't quite clinical enough.
Eusebio Sacristan replaced his wing backs with Jonas Ramalho and Marc Muniesa, presumably to give fresh legs to a demanding position.
Setien brought Feddal on for Guardado and moved Javi Garcia into midfield. Sergio Leon replaced Antonio Sanabria in attack, and the final change from Setien saw Mexican teenager Diego Lainez come on to make his debut in European football.
Eusebio's final change was a defensive one: midfielder Douglas Luiz on for Doumbia, with the team switching to 5-4-1.
In added time Lo Celso shrewdly drew a foul from Luiz inside the box, and Canales scored the resulting penalty to win the game for Betis with his fifth goal of the league season.
This match would have been more straight forward for Betis if they'd not made poor individual errors in the first half. Perhaps these blips were down to fatigue, having played at Real Sociedad in the cup on Thursday night.
In the end Girona was quite unlucky not to draw for the fourth match running. They've now failed to win in seven league games. Perhaps Eusebio paid the price for more defensive alternations during the second half - it's clear Setien wanted to go for the win. But, Stuani's absence, it's hard to argue with Eusebio's logic. He came within seconds of successfully protecting the point.
Both of these teams now face a busy couple of weeks with Copa De Rey Quarter Finals coming up, either side of their next league game. Betis are away at Espanyol on Thursday, before facing Athletic Club at San Mames. Girona play at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday, then at Camp Nou on Sunday.
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