It is very common to see teams with lower squad depth try to play total defensive football against teams like Real Madrid or Barcelona, at least this approach allows them to get points. For today's match, Espanyol were more open in terms of play, they created several chances, but Girona certainly controlled more.
Unfortunately Girona failed to win again, even though their opponent was a regular team. This season, their performance has declined again. The draw rsult only shared the point. In the last 4 matches, Girona's match results are really bad, 3 consecutive defeats and now only a draw, even though Girona is expected to be able to beat Espanyol because their position is very dominant during the match. They even have more than 60% ball possession. And just imagine, from 18 shots. only 1 goal went in. Girona's attack line since Dovbyk left has really dropped. Well, now Girona's position has been overtaken by Getafe who just beat Atletico Madrid yesterday.
Girona's performance this season has really plummeted, leaving them in 13th place in the standings. Even though last season they were very superior, finishing in 3rd place in the La Liga standings, who knows what's wrong with Girona, but that's how a team like Girona can't be consistent every season.
This draw is certainly very much hoped for by Espanyol considering that in this match they were actually not dominant in terms of ball possession or other aspects, they were only able to take 8 kicks, only 4 of which were on target. This is different from Girona who managed to release 18 kicks, only 4 of which were on target, but their goals were scored from the penalty spot. This draw also makes Espanyol slowly move away from the relegation zone, currently they are only two points behind Alaves who are in 18th place in the standings.