European football: Girona keeper’s penalty saves earn win, Juventus held

The Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga saved two penalties, including one that had to be retaken, before his teammate Cristhian Stuani scored from the spot deep in stoppage time as they beat visitors Athletic Bilbao 2-1 in La Liga on Sunday.

Álex Berenguer’s penalty was saved in the first half and Athletic’s luck from the spot got worse after the break as Iñaki Williams’s effort was also stopped. It had to be retaken because Gazzaniga’s feet were off the line. Ander Herrera stepped up for that but his effort was also saved by the former Fulham and Tottenham keeper.

The visitors were immediately punished after Berenguer’s poor miss when the Colombian midfielder Yáser Asprilla put Girona ahead in the 39th minute, sending a dangerous left-foot cross from outside the box into the bottom left corner past keeper Álex Padilla.

Oihan Sancet equalised two minutes later, but the substitute Stuani converted his penalty in the 99th minute to seal all three points and end Girona’s four-match winless run in La Liga.

“I’m happy for the three points the team got.” Gazzaniga said. “I don’t remember another match like this. I would like to highlight the work of the team because without them it wouldn’t have been possible. We were studying the penalties with the goalkeeping coach and this time it worked out well.”

Juventus conceded their first Serie A goal as a late Razvan Marin penalty snatched a 1-1 draw for visitors Cagliari. Dusan Vlahovic put Juventus ahead from the spot in the 15th minute but Juve, despite dominating for most of the game, were unable to find a second goal, and were made to pay two minutes from time.

Juventus, playing their seventh league game, had Francisco Conceição sent off in the final minutes, after he received a second booking, for simulation, and Cagliari held on to take an unexpected point.

The draw denied Juventus the chance to move back up to second, and they are third on 13 points, one point behind the defending champions, Inter, and two behind Napoli.

Late on Sunday, Real Betis travel to Sevilla for the derby and Real Sociedad host Atlético Madrid. Fiorentina host Milan in the late Serie A game, while Bayern Munich travel to third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt one point behind RB Leipzig, who went top of the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win at FC Heidenheim thanks to Loïs Openda’s second-half strike. In France, Paris Saint-Germain can return to the top by winning at Nice.