Sociedad Deportiva Huesca fell short to Girona FC in El Alcoraz, following a goal early in the second 45 from Samu Saiz, in the first game of 2022 (0-1). After an even first half, the Oscenses second-half domination could not be turned into goals in LaLiga SmartBank matchday 22. The lack of success together with the saves of the rival goalkeeper prevented Xisco’s side from starting the year with a victory. There is no time to dwell on the result – our trip to Cartagena awaits us.
We saw a high-paced opening with an energetic performance, from box to box and with both sides producing big chances. Juan Carlos Real, starting again and who proved himself to be very active, was the first to open fire. He struck a rocket from distance, but Ortolá pulled off a strong save at the last moment, right when the ball was flying directly into the top corner of the net. The visitors in Huesca also approached Andrés Fernández’s goal. In the 12th, our no.1 did well to use his pace to disturb Aleix García as he was about to shoot. Where Girona were dominant in the early stages, it was SD Huesca who began to feel more comfortable later, thanks to a rock-solid defence as a secret weapon, moving the ball forward by means of Juan Carlos and Nwakali. Just before the interval, there was bad news for the Azulgranas, when Florian Miguel had to be brought off after a powerful cross accidentally hit him in the face.
Pablo Insua replaced the Frenchman after the break. Similarly to the first 45, the second half saw few attempts in a hard-fought showpiece with rare saves by the keepers. However, in the 47th came the stunning goal from the rival: a rebound on the edge of the area turned into a thumping shot into the top corner of the net by a former SD Huesca player, Samu Saiz. Xisco’s men did not give up, though, and sped up. Mikel Rico produced a good effort following a cross by Pulido on the edge of the area, and in the 71st, we saw one of the clearest opportunities: Pitta won the ball back and found himself one-on-one with Ortolá, but his shot was pawed away by the keeper. Right after that, Ignasi Miquel headed towards goal another cross from Pulido, but the ball had gone out before our captain’s cross. It was then when the Altoaragoneses kept piling on the pressure, creating a number of dangerous moments: a shot from Adolfo Gaich followed by a standout save from Ortolá, a header from Insua on the box that went wide and a strike from Pulido cleared by the defenders – all of them were brilliant efforts that made the hosts deserve the equaliser, but the ball did not want to go in. We tried hard until the end, with a free-kick from the wing that even Andrés Fernández tried to head home by coming out of his own goal.
