Last-gasp equaliser earns Girona 2-2 draw against Villarreal

Villarreal were held to a 2-2 home draw by Girona in LaLiga on Sunday after Ladislav Krejcí scored an equaliser deep into second-half added time with an outstanding volley from range for the visitors.

Villarreal looked all set to win three points but Krejci volleyed home from 22 metres out with a shot that dipped past the outstretched arm of the keeper to silence the fans at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Having squandered a 2-0 lead, the draw left Villarreal in fourth with 26 points while Girona moved up to seventh, four points behind.

"It was a great goal, I haven't seen it because I was involved in the jump for the ball but everyone was saying it was a brilliant goal," Girona's Cristhian Stuani said.

"I'm very happy because we proved at the end we wanted to try and get a result despite the adversity. Clawing back from 2-0 down at this ground isn't easy, Villarreal have quality up front and they can kill you on the counter."

Although Girona enjoyed more possession in the first half, Villarreal had more shots on goal and the opener came in the 23rd minute when a powerful header from Yeremy Pino hit the post and Thierno Barry pounced on the rebound to score.

Pino's header had come from a superb cross from Álex Baena and the two were involved in the second goal as well when Villarreal scored in the first minute of the second half.

Pino carried the ball into midfield and spotted Baena making a run, made a decisive pass to find the Spanish midfielder who fired a shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

Girona halved the deficit in the 66th minute from a corner when Donny van de Beek's half-volley from the edge of the box took a deflection to beat Diego Conde in Villarreal's goal.

Denis Suárez nearly put the game to bed for Villarreal in the 84th minute when he was through on goal but his shot was saved by Girona keeper Paulo Gazzaniga.

Villarreal had a heart-in-mouth moment when Stuani popped up with a goal in the 90th minute but the 38-year-old's strike was ruled out for offside by VAR -- moments before Krejci scored his second goal in as many LaLiga games.

"We're hurt and angry, you can't throw away a 2-0 lead at home," Baena said.

"We need to have a winning mentality even when you're winning 2-0, you need to go for the third goal. We'll try to do that in the next game."