MADRID (AP) — A late goal from veteran striker Cristhian Stuani rescued a point for Girona on Monday in a tense relegation encounter at Rayo Vallecano that guaranteed Real Oviedo will go down from La Liga.
The 1-1 draw meant Oviedo, in last place, will return to La Liga 2 after one season in the top tier.
Girona was two points clear of the relegation zone with three games remaining.
However, only six points separate the nine teams from places 11th to 19th as a desperate relegation battle to avoid joining Oviedo looks certain to go to the final weekend.
Rayo, who last week beat Strasbourg to set up a Conference League final against Crystal Palace, came into the game on a high and was on top for much of the match.
Recommended for you
However, it struggled to threaten the Girona goal and the deadlock wasn’t broken until the 86th minute when Rayo Brazilian forward Alemão cleverly deflected in a long-range shot.
Not for the first time this season, Stuani came off the bench to save Girona. The big Uruguayan got his head on a corner in the 90th to secure a crucial point for the visitor.
Girona sat in 17th place, two points ahead of Alaves. Rayo was 10th.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.