Rayo Vallecano will want to forget Saturday’s game against Girona as quickly as possible. With a 2-1 lead, the team from Madrid had the chance to make it 3-1 via a penalty kick just before half-time. Óscar Trejo and Isi Palazón, Isi for short, tried to successfully repeat the famous penalty of Johan Cruijff and Jesper Olsen from 1982. However, Isi shot well over. Girona also equalized in the second half and it would stay with that: 2-2. Rayo is eighth and fails to level with number six Villarreal.
Ajax received a penalty kick on December 5, 1982 in the match against Helmond Sport. Cruijff surprised everyone by putting the ball wide on Olsen, who in turn served Cruijff. The latter then simply shot in. The Ajax players thus imitated the Red Devils Rik Coppens and André Piters (1957) and the Feyenoord duo Bas Paauwe and Gerard Kuppen (1944), who previously scored from ‘combination penalties’. Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, among others, successfully repeated the feat in February 2016, in the match against Celta de Vigo (6-1 win).
¡Desaprovechó el @RayoVallecano la opportunidad de hacer el tercero en este penalti!#RayoGirona | #LaLigaSantander#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/yqW86VPMzL
— LaLiga (@LaLiga) March 18, 2023
Trejo and Isi also tried to repeat the trick on Saturday, but failed miserably. Trejo apparently placed the ball too deep on Isi, who therefore had to pull a full sprint to reach the ball earlier than goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga. Isi managed to get to the ball earlier, but shot well over in the rush. Trejo and Isi showed themselves in a better way less than twenty minutes before. Trejo was then the principal for Isi’s opening goal. The Spaniard had a devastating shot in the cross at home. After Viktor Tsygankov scored the equalizer from a rebound, Trejo put his team ahead again with a nice diagonal shot in minute 34.
Five minutes before the break, referee Pablo González pointed Fuertes to the spot after a foul by Arnau Martínez on Álvaro García. Trejo initially encountered Gazzaniga, but because a Girona defender came in too early, the penalty kick had to be taken over. Trejo lost to Isi, who shot well over. It turned out to be an extremely costly miss, as Girona equalized in the second half. Tsygankov appreciated a pass from Javi Hernández and scored his second of the afternoon: 2-2. Girona was the better party in the future, but Rayo was spared a defeat. Girona thus takes a valuable point in the fight against relegation. It is now twelfth, five points from number eighteen Getafe.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 25 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 65 |
| 2 | RealMadrid | 25 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 56 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 25 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 48 |
| 4 | real society | 25 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 45 |
| 5 | RealBetis | 25 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 42 |
| 6 | Villarreal | 25 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 38 |
| 7 | Athletic Club | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 36 |
| 8 | Rayo Vallecano | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 36 |
| 9 | Osasuna | 25 | 9 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 34 |
| 10 | Celta de Vigo | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 34 |
| 11 | Real Majorca | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | -4 | 32 |
| 12 | Girona | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | -1 | 31 |
| 13 | Seville | 25 | 7 | 7 | 11 | -11 | 28 |
| 14 | Cadiz | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | -17 | 28 |
| 15 | Real Valladolid | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | -18 | 28 |
| 16 | Espanyol | 26 | 6 | 9 | 11 | -10 | 27 |
| 17 | valencia | 25 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 26 |
| 18 | Getafe | 25 | 6 | 8 | 11 | -9 | 26 |
| 19 | Almeria | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | -15 | 26 |
| 20 | Elche | 25 | 2 | 7 | 16 | -30 | 13 |