Yamal misses pen as Barcelona fail to catch Madrid in loss to Girona

Barcelona were unable to return to the top of the LaLiga table after Fran Beltran's late winner sealed a 2-1 victory for Girona.

An entertaining meeting between the two Catalan rivals saw Raphinha and Vladyslav Vanat go close for either side before Barça won a penalty on the stroke of halftime, but Lamine Yamal's spot kick hit the post.

After the break, Pau Cubarsi's header was quickly cancelled out by Thomas Lemar and Beltran had the final say for Girona, who finished the game with 10 men after Joel Roca was sent off in added time for a hard foul on Yamal.

Barça sit two points behind league leaders Real Madrid, who moved top following their win over Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Raphinha made his return to the starting lineup from injury and was involved from the beginning, hitting a low pass to the onrushing Yamal, who curled the ball around the post.

Although Girona began to see more of the ball, Barça still threatened as Raphinha fired wide and Yamal then chipped an effort straight at Paulo Gazzaniga.

Another promising break from the hosts saw Viktor Tsygankov thread the ball into Vanat, but his strike was saved by Joan García.

Girona players celebrate after scoring a goal against Barcelona in LaLiga.
Girona players celebrate after scoring a goal against Barcelona in LaLiga.
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Ferran Torres hit a shot past the far post and Raphinha continued to pose problems, blasting a powerful strike just over the crossbar.

However, Girona threatened on the break and Bryan Gil played a neat pass into Vanat, who burst through the defence to force a low save from Garcia.

Both teams had great chances towards the end of the half when Tsygankov's free kick from the edge of the box whistled over the bar and Raphinha rattled the post moments later.

Barça were awarded a penalty in first-half added-time when Daley Blind fouled Dani Olmo, but Yamal was off target from the spot.

The visitors eventually found the opener in the 59th minute when Jules Kounde's delivery into the box was nodded into the top corner by Cubarsi.

However, Girona responded only two minutes later when Lemar easily tapped home from Vanat's low pass across the six-yard box and the hosts looked to capitalise as Garcia made solid saves from Roca's header and Tsygankov's strike in quick succession.

The Barça goalkeeper then made a brilliant double save, pushing Ivan Martin's shot away before stopping Vanat's effort from close range before the Girona striker was called for offside and, minutes later, Roca was denied by Garcia at the near post.

The hosts went ahead in the 86th minute when Beltran slotted the ball into the bottom corner, with the goal standing despite protests that Kounde was fouled in the build-up.

Robert Lewandowski had a goal ruled out for offside and, nine minutes into additional time, Roca was shown a red card but Barça slipped to a second-straight defeat after losing to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.