Substitute Ronald Araújo snatched Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Girona in stoppage time in La Liga on Saturday and ended a mini losing streak before the clasico at Real Madrid next week.
The central defender made the move of a striker when he slid in front of his marker as they raced to the near post and skilfully redirected a low pass from Frenkie de Jong.
Araújo’s last-gasp goal came moments after Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was sent off with two quick yellow cards apparently for complaining that the referee had not added more than four minutes of injury time.
The sending off means Flick won’t be on the sideline for the first clasico of the season.
Before the international break, Barcelona lost to Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the Champions League and was stunned at Sevilla 4-1 in La Liga.
Pedri González gave Barcelona the lead with an exquisite goal in the 13th, sliding an angled ball back across the area and inside the near post without looking at the target.
But Barcelona’s control collapsed after Axel Witsel equalized seven minutes later with an acrobatic bicycle kick to whip a loose high ball off the turf and past Wojciech Szczęsny.
Pedri celebrates scoring his team’s first goal against Girona.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
Pedri celebrates scoring his team’s first goal against Girona.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
Only Szczęsny’s saves and some poor marksmanship by Girona kept the visitor from taking the lead before halftime after it was able to mount repeated counterattacks.
Girona then needed goalie Paulo Gazzaniga to turn back shots by Fermín López and Marcus Rashord before Araújo´s clinched the result.
With Barcelona missing strikers Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres and playmaker Dani Olmo to injury, Flick gave a La Liga debut to 17-year-old forward Toni Fernández. He was substituted for Fermín at halftime.
Barcelona moved into the league lead with a one-point advantage over Madrid before it plays Getafe on Sunday.
Published on Oct 18, 2025