Head coach Michel hailed Girona's resilience after they earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Getafe on Sunday, despite riding their luck at times. (More Sports News)
Getafe were the better side for much of the contest but Yangel Herrera's towering header in the first half was enough to seal victory for Girona, who were missing 12 first-team players due to injuries.
The visitors only had three shots in total, hitting the target twice, as they accumulated just 0.19 expected goals (xG). While Getafe registered 0.61 xG, they failed to test goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, allowing Girona to clinch the win with a more clinical performance.
"Today's performance was not our best, obviously, and everyone could see that, but you have to appreciate how the boys defended," Michel told DAZN.
"God knows how many crosses they attempted, they had eight shots, and we kept most off the target. That's great defending. With the only real chance we created in the game, it was a goal. We knew it was going to be difficult.
"They are a team that presses well, they have done it to all teams and that's why they were undefeated at home. We've been very competitive, as you need to be to win here."
Girona earned back-to-back league wins for the first time in more than two months, and sit 10th in LaLiga going into the international break. It was also an important win for them, having suffered a 4-0 defeat to PSV in the Champions League earlier last week.
Michel said he is hoping the two-week rest they will have in the international break will help them get some of their key players back from injury, such as Abel Ruiz, Arnaut Danjuma, Viktor Tsygankov or Yaser Asprilla, among others.
"That's our reality and that's why those were three very, very valuable points. The way the team is at the moment, we need to rest and get some of the boys back," Michel said.
"I think after the international break we're going to have, I hope, fingers crossed, more players available, and today it was very important to get a positive result."
