Girona 2 (Herrera 56, Roca 56) Wolves 1 (Arias 78)
Jhon Arias scored on his first Wolves outing, but it wasn’t enough for a result, as Vitor Pereira’s side were narrowly beaten by Girona at the Estadi Montilivi.
Following a short training camp in Spain, Wolves took on the La Liga side on Sunday evening but trailed to goals from Yangel Herrera and Joel Roca. Arias came off the bench and finished impressively soon after, but it proved only a consolation in the north of Spain.
The Old Gold took just 90 seconds to register their first shot on target, with Jorgen Strand Larsen reading Fer Lopez’s clever flick but shooting straight at former Tottenham Hotspur stopper Paulo Gazzaniga on the fall, while Yaser Asprilla fired the home side’s first shot wide.
Cristhian Stuani did have the ball in the net for Girona early on, only to be denied by the offside flag, while Asprilla shot straight at Jose Sa, Wolves’ captain for the evening. The Old Gold did have to survive a goalmouth scramble too, before Asprilla fired wide from the resulting corner.
For Wolves, a clear-cut chance of the opening 45 minutes eluded them. Ki-Jana Hoever was a threat down the right, as was Lopez, but neither could find a moment of quality with their final ball, as the two sides went in level at the break.
Half-time | Girona 0-0 Wolves
While Wolves had looked solid in the opening period, they were undone quickly after the restart. When Santiago Bueno misplaced his pass to Marshall Munetsi, Wolves failed to recover, and a deep cross saw Yangel Herrera beat the Uruguayan to the ball at the back post and convert from close range.
Jhon Solis then called substitute goalkeeper Sam Johnstone into action, however there was nothing he could do to prevent the second goal going in. It was a piece of magic from Joel Roca, who from just inside the corner of the penalty area, bent a stunning finish around Johnstone and into the top corner for 2-0.
The hour mark brought five changes for Wolves, with two being particularly significant. Arias took to the pitch as an Old Gold player for the first time, while Yerson Mosquera was back in action for the first time since September, when he suffered a serious knee injury.
Arias was quickly involved too. He nicked the ball inside the Girona area and teed up Strand Larsen, whose low effort was turned behind by Gazzaniga. From the resulting corner, which was whipped in impressively by Hugo Bueno, Mosquera had a goalbound header tipped over the bar.
The Old Gold did get a taste of what they hope is to come with 12 minutes remaining, however. Joao Gomes drove forward and slipped in Arias, who beat his man and showed composure to fire home a first goal for Wolves.
It was Vitor Pereira’s side pushing for a late equaliser too, with Hugo Bueno dragging a shot wide after good work by Joao Gomes, which proved to be the final moment of note in Spain.
Full-time | Girona 2-1 Wolves
Girona | Gazzaniga, Arnau (Portu 64), Lopez (Rincon 64), Stuani, Asprilla, Tsygankov, Blind, Krejci, Yangel, Solis, Roca (Antal 64).
Unused subs | Carlos, Vlad, Lemar, Frances, Miovski, Gibi, Lass, Jastin, Papa, Dawda.
Wolves | Sa (Johnstone 45), Hoever (Lima 81), S Bueno (Doherty 64), Agbadou, Toti (Mosquera 64), R Gomes (H Bueno 64), Andre (Hwang 81), J Gomes, Lopez (Arias 64), Munetsi (Bellegarde 64), Strand Larsen (Kalajdzic 81).
Unused subs | Bentley, Chirewa.
